Christopher Luxon has been warmly welcomed by China's President in Lima on the sidelines of the APEC Summit.
It is the first time Xi Jinping and Luxon have met, with the meeting scheduled for 30 minutes.
In his opening remarks, President Xi acknowledged the sound and steady growth between China and New Zealand and commended Luxon for his efforts building the relationship since he took office a year ago.
He also said China was ready to work together with New Zealand to create more firsts.
President Xi noted Luxon had visited China many times in his previous life before politics.
"Since taking office as the Prime Minister you have attached importance to New Zealand's relationship with China, and supported China-New Zealand cooperation, I commend your efforts."
"During my visit to New Zealand ten years ago our two sides decided to establish a comprehensive strategic partnership, and build a community of shared interests between our two countries," Xi said.
He said the sound and steady growth between the two countries "has greatly improved the wellbeing of our two peoples and should be all the more cherished".
"China is ready to work with your government to create more firsts for our relations, strive for continued growth...and make more contributions to peace, stability, development and prosperity of our region and the world at large," Xi said.
In response Luxon said New Zealand placed "great significance on our relationship with China - its a longstanding and important one".
"China is a place I've visited many time and understand well, and I look forward to us continuing to build on our partnership and friendship as a result."
He told Xi the two countries had strong "people-to-people connections" and he was pleased to see the return of so many air services between the two countries.
NZ Prime Minister Christopher Luxon meets with China's President, Xi Jinping in Lima. Photo: Pool / Chris Skelton
Luxon arrived in Peru for APEC overnight.
On arrival, he headed straight to a private catch-up with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese.
The leaders of APEC's 21 economies from the Asia-Pacific region are meeting just a week after Donald Trump was declared the US president-elect.
While it is Joe Biden in town representing the US, Trump's promised tariffs will feature heavily in leader to leader conversations this weekend, including between Luxon and China's Xi Jinping.
Xi is under very tight security in Lima, prompting him to send his officials to a grand port opening two hours north while he held a virtual ribbon cutting.
Luxon is expected to speak to media at 12.20pm (NZT).
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