Foreign Minister Winston Peters urged Beijing to respect Wellington’s right to an independent foreign policy, saying ‘Aukus is about looking after our own defence’.

New Zealand’s government said its cybersecurity bureau had established links between a Chinese state-sponsored actor known as APT40 and malicious cyber activity targeting the country’s parliament.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit comes amid a tilt by New Zealand towards US and Australian defence policy, and concerns that Wellington could join Aukus.

Wang hails the strength of the relationship at the start of a trip to the region that will also include a visit to Australia.

The Chinese minister’s visit will begin on Sunday, and Australian wine companies are getting production lines ready for a resumption of exports to China that is expected to be imminent.

Chinese defence ministry says Wellington risks harming its interests by engaging trilateral partnership.

Imports of milk powder were subjected to the longest phase-out under the New Zealand-China free trade agreement signed in 2008.

China has set a goal of reaching peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030, but a report says it is likely to delay efforts to deliver on agricultural sustainability goals until then.

China is one of Wellington’s key foreign policy priorities as it remains New Zealand’s biggest trading partner.

New PM Chris Luxon is set to pursue warmer China ties, but he has to balance expectations from New Zealanders and the Five Eyes, while Aukus could also constrain his moves.

The country’s leader-elect, Christopher Luxon, does not see China as the bogeyman, setting the stage for improved ties that put business first.

Christopher Luxon will be New Zealand’s next prime minister and is expected to form an alliance with the libertarian ACT Party.

Green List visas can be offered for jobs such as welding, panel beating and vehicle painting. In addition, construction companies can recruit migrants at a lower wage than the normal work visa allows.

The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service said Chinese agencies had been continuously monitoring the country’s diverse ethnic Chinese communities.

Releasing the country’s first national security strategy, Defence Minister Andrew Little noted China’s rise posed challenges to existing international rules and norms.

Some New Zealanders have accused Chris Luxon of ‘selling’ the country to foreign investors at a time of concerns over Chinese investments in the Pacific.

For the third time in two months, the US secretary of state is coming back to the region – to talk Aukus, New Zealand’s Beijing diplomacy and show Pacific island nations that it’s a ‘willing partner’, analysts say.

Wellington’s attempts to maintain ‘a de facto non-alignment policy’ towards China are ‘rapidly becoming non-viable’, one analyst said – even as New Zealand strives to emphasise ‘open and honest dialogue’ in its ‘complex’ ties with Beijing.

Chris Hipkins said that China’s rise and how it seeks to exert that influence is a major driver of the increasing strategic competition, particularly in the Indo-Pacific.

Chris Hipkins, who recently met Chinese President Xi Jinping, said Wellington would disagree with Beijing in areas where it challenges his country’s national interests.

Foreign minister Nanaia Mahuta said Wellington was carefully managing its ‘complex relationship’ with Beijing to prevent being sucked into superpower clash.

Chinese president says both countries should improve the environment for business and investment as he welcomes New Zealand leader to Beijing.

Opposition parties said Prime Minister Chris Hipkins’ need to take a second aircraft was an environmental embarrassment to the country and illustrated the poor state of New Zealand’s defence force.