Heather du Plessis-Allan: China may need New Zealand more than we realise

I’ll tell you what was clear from Chris Hipkins’ meeting with Xi Jinping last night and the Chinese media coverage afterwards. And that was that China actually needs us more than perhaps many Kiwis realise.

Of all the countries visiting Beijing at the moment, and there were quite a few, Barbados, Mongolia, and Vietnam- it was New Zealand that was singled out in the local press for special mention.

Geoffrey Miller: Chris Hipkins’ successful meeting with Xi Jinping

Warm and constructive.

That’s how Chris Hipkins wanted his meeting with Xi Jinping on Tuesday to be remembered.

The New Zealand Prime Minister deployed the ‘warm and constructive’ phrase at least eight times in a subsequent press conference with New Zealand media.

Hipkins was also keen to note that ‘the meeting was at no point adversarial’. This served to reinforce the impression of warmness.