Interview: "Relationship between China, New Zealand is the most important thing": New Zealand tourism minister

by Zhang Xiaoqing

WELLINGTON, March 30 (Xinhua) -- news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">news.cn/en/tag/i0xkmkf277c8b6f3be1bd5/index.html" target="_blank">The strong relationship between China and news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">new Zealand is news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">news.cn/en/tag/i0xkmkf277c8b6f3be1bd5/index.html" target="_blank">The most important thing, news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">new Zealand's Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis told Xinhua Saturday in an exclusive interview.

news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">news.cn/en/tag/i0xkmkf277c8b6f3be1bd5/index.html" target="_blank">The 2019 China-news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">new Zealand Year of Tourism was launched at news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">news.cn/en/tag/i0xkmkf277c8b6f3be1bd5/index.html" target="_blank">The country's capital Wellington on Saturday with an aim to strengnews.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">news.cn/en/tag/i0xkmkf277c8b6f3be1bd5/index.html" target="_blank">Then economic and cultural ties between news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">news.cn/en/tag/i0xkmkf277c8b6f3be1bd5/index.html" target="_blank">The two countries.

news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">news.cn/en/tag/i0xkmkf277c8b6f3be1bd5/index.html" target="_blank">The official ceremony, held at news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">news.cn/en/tag/i0xkmkf277c8b6f3be1bd5/index.html" target="_blank">The Museum of news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">new Zealand Te Papa Tongawera, was attended by high-level officials and hundreds of representatives from news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">news.cn/en/tag/i0xkmkf277c8b6f3be1bd5/index.html" target="_blank">The tourism industry in both countries. Davis read news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">news.cn/en/tag/i0xkmkf277c8b6f3be1bd5/index.html" target="_blank">The welcoming message by news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">new Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">news.cn/en/tag/i0xkmkf277c8b6f3be1bd5/index.html" target="_blank">The opening ceremony.

"news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">news.cn/en/tag/i0xkmkf277c8b6f3be1bd5/index.html" target="_blank">The relationship between China and news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">new Zealand is news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">news.cn/en/tag/i0xkmkf277c8b6f3be1bd5/index.html" target="_blank">The most important thing," Davis said to Xinhua. "I think if we get news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">news.cn/en/tag/i0xkmkf277c8b6f3be1bd5/index.html" target="_blank">The relationship right on, we continue on our strong, respectful ways, everything else will fall into place."

"news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">news.cn/en/tag/i0xkmkf277c8b6f3be1bd5/index.html" target="_blank">The most important thing for me is that we have a strong relationship, not just with news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">news.cn/en/tag/i0xkmkf277c8b6f3be1bd5/index.html" target="_blank">The news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">new Zealand government and news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">news.cn/en/tag/i0xkmkf277c8b6f3be1bd5/index.html" target="_blank">The Chinese government, but our people, and we can do that by having more Chinese visitors come to news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">new Zealand, but also more news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">new Zealanders go and visit China."

Last year, around 600,000 visits were exchanged between news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">news.cn/en/tag/i0xkmkf277c8b6f3be1bd5/index.html" target="_blank">The two countries. news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">news.cn/en/tag/i0xkmkf277c8b6f3be1bd5/index.html" target="_blank">There was an 8.8 percent increase in Chinese holidaymakers visiting news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">new Zealand from 2017 to 2018, and China is news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">new Zealand's second-largest tourism market.

"news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">news.cn/en/tag/i0xkmkf277c8b6f3be1bd5/index.html" target="_blank">There are many beautiful places all around news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">new Zealand and part of our desire is to see more people visit news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">news.cn/en/tag/i0xkmkf277c8b6f3be1bd5/index.html" target="_blank">The smaller and least known places but is equally beautiful and experience our landscapes in our culture."

When asked about Christchurch's terror attacks on March 15, Davis said, "In Christchurch isn't what news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">new Zealand's about ... We really welcome everybody with open arms. We value diversity, we value our differences, different cultures, different people. That's something we hope never happens again, and it shouldn't define who we are as news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">new Zealanders. We're a welcoming country to people from all nations."

Davis predicted that news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">news.cn/en/tag/i0xkmkf277c8b6f3be1bd5/index.html" target="_blank">There will be more news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">new Zealanders visiting China this year. "I've just seen news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">news.cn/en/tag/i0xkmkf277c8b6f3be1bd5/index.html" target="_blank">The wonderful landscapes, news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">news.cn/en/tag/i0xkmkf277c8b6f3be1bd5/index.html" target="_blank">The culture and news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">news.cn/en/tag/i0xkmkf277c8b6f3be1bd5/index.html" target="_blank">The colors of China. It's very exciting and I'm sure news.cn/en/tag/i0xngaj3163f76200c981b/index.html" target="_blank">new Zealanders would love to go and see and experience more of that."