Chinese Premier Li Qiang to visit New Zealand, Australia and Malaysia

Chinese Premier Li Qiang will pay official visits to New Zealand, Australia and Malaysia from June 13 to 20, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Tuesday.

Li's tour is at the invitation of Prime Minister Christopher Luxon of New Zealand, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia.

During his visit to Australia, Premier Li will co-chair the ninth China-Australia Annual Leaders' Meeting with Prime Minister Albanese, Lin added.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of President Xi Jinping's successful state visits to New Zealand and Australia and the 10th anniversary of the establishment of China-New Zealand and China-Australia comprehensive strategic partnerships, Lin said at a regular press briefing when answering a relevant query.

He added that this year is also the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Malaysia, as well as the China-Malaysia friendship year.

Lin said that China and New Zealand are each other's important cooperative partners. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties, bilateral relations have maintained sound and steady development, creating many "firsts," and cooperation in various fields has brought huge benefits to the two countries and two peoples.

During his visit to New Zealand, Premier Li will meet and hold talks with New Zealand Governor-General Cindy Kiro, Prime Minister Luxon and other officials to exchange in-depth views on China-New Zealand relations and international and regional issues of common concern, the spokesperson said.

Through this visit, China hopes to strengthen communication, enhance mutual trust, deepen cooperation, consolidate friendship, push forward the sound and steady development of China-New Zealand relations and bring more benefits to the two peoples, Lin added.

Lin said that China and Australia are both important countries in the Asia-Pacific region, with highly complementary economies and broad prospects for cooperation. It is the common aspiration of the two peoples to consolidate and maintain the momentum of China-Australia relations, he noted.

Lin added that during his visit to Australia, Premier Li will co-chair the ninth China-Australia Annual Leaders' Meeting with Prime Minister Albanese and have extensive contact with people from all walks of life in Australia to exchange views on China-Australia relations and international and regional issues of common concern.

The two leaders will also jointly attend a China-Australia CEO Roundtable meeting, Lin said.

He said that China is willing to take this visit as an opportunity to work with Australia to strengthen high-level exchanges, enhance understanding and mutual trust, deepen practical cooperation and jointly build a more mature, stable and fruitful China-Australia comprehensive strategic partnership.

Lin said that China and Malaysia are traditional friendly neighbors facing each other across the sea. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties half a century ago, China-Malaysia relations have maintained a sound momentum of development, with ever-deepening strategic mutual trust, fruitful high-quality cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative and ever-closer people-to-people exchanges.

China and Malaysia are both developing countries and emerging economies in Asia and have actively advocated the Asian values of peace, cooperation, inclusiveness and integration and made important contributions to regional peace, prosperity and stability, Lin said.

During his visit to Malaysia, Premier Li will meet and hold talks with Malaysia's King Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar and Prime Minister Anwar and attend the celebration of the 50th anniversary of China-Malaysia diplomatic ties with Prime Minister Anwar, the spokesperson said.

China looks forward to taking this visit as an opportunity to carry forward the traditional friendship with Malaysia, deepen and expand cooperation in various fields, push forward the building of a China-Malaysia community with a shared future, and work together to usher in an even more brilliant next 50 years of China-Malaysia relations, he added.

(With input from Xinhua)