\u201cHe knows New Zealand well. He\u2019s visited a few times in the past. We\u2019ve had a very big engagement with China.\u201d<\/p>\n
China is New Zealand\u2019s largest trading partner, with two-way trade worth about $40 billion in the year to June. <\/p>\n
Luxon said it was an \u201cimportant\u201d and \u201ccomplex\u201d relationship, with areas for further cooperation but also differences to be called out publicly and privately. <\/p>\n
The leaders most recently met in June when Christopher Luxon was in Beijing. Photo \/ Supplied.<\/p>\n
It means Luxon was able to get facetime with the leaders of the world\u2019s two largest economies \u2013 he met US President Donald Trump on Wednesday<\/a> \u2013 before flying home to New Zealand on Saturday night. <\/p>\n The Prime Minister said leaders at Apec were keen for it to continue to be a body to \u201cinvent and incubate and innovate new trading architecture\u201d. <\/p>\n He also believed there was a \u201cvery strong feeling about wanting to work together and advance the rules-based system\u201d. There was \u201chuge momentum\u201d for this.<\/p>\n Without specifically referring to Trump\u2019s tariffs, Luxon said the \u201cchange in the trading environment\u201d had been a \u201cwake-up call\u201d for some countries as they were \u201clocked into\u201d traditional trade partnerships and \u201cthey can\u2019t move as flexibly as we\u2019ve been able to\u201d. <\/p>\n He believed New Zealand businesses were well-placed to deal with international tumult as they are \u201clean, mean, fit and they\u2019re damn good\u201d. <\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re hugely agile and they can move between markets at a drop of a hat.\u201d <\/p>\n One of the dominant themes of discussions has been around how countries can cooperate to make trade easier <\/a>for all. Luxon said he had been pushing to \u201cspeed it up\u201d. <\/p>\n Throughout his week\u2019s trip to Asia \u2013 first to Malaysia for the Association of South East Asia Nations (Asean) summit, and then to Apec in South Korea \u2013 Luxon has met with a large number of world leaders either formally<\/a> or for brief one-on-ones. <\/p>\n Those encounters have included Xi, Trump, Australia\u2019s Anthony Albanese, Canada\u2019s Mark Carney, Japan\u2019s Sane Takaichi, Indonesia\u2019s Prabowo Subianto, Malaysia\u2019s Anwar bin Ibrahim, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the heads of various South-East Asian nations. <\/p>\n There weren\u2019t always tangible outcomes from these meetings, nor would the Prime Minister always share what was discussed. For example, he wouldn\u2019t go into whether he raised tariffs with Trump during their private discussions<\/a>. <\/p>\n Some of the arrangements \u2013 like brief pull asides at dinners \u2013 don\u2019t allow for extensive conversations about issues, but rather just provide facetime between leaders. <\/p>\nPrime Minister Christopher Luxon met a number of world leaders for dinner on Wednesday. Photo \/ Jamie Ensor \/ Pool<\/p>\n