New Zealand Foreign Minister, Murray McCully, has arrived in Beijing for a two-day visit, at the invitation of Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi.

It might not be coincidence that Murray McCully's visit comes just one week after New Zealand's defense minister was criticized by China over his stance on the South China Sea dispute.

During last week's Xiangshan regional security Forum, China made it clear that countries not directly involved in the South China Sea issue should not interfere.

New Zealand FM arrives in Beijing for two-day visit

"Foreign minister McCully reiterated today New Zealand's commitment to the "one China" principle and the willingness to handle well and manage well in relevant issues," said Wang Yi, Chinese foreign minister.

China and New Zealand are embracing a range of new opportunities: New Zealand is willing to make efforts with China to speed up negotiations on upgrading their Free Trade Agreement which went into effect in 2008. Over the years, it has brought mutual benefits to many sectors. Like the amount of dairy products exported to China has grown significantly, while New Zealand is now a preference for many Chinese oversea students.

China and New Zealand are embracing a range of new opportunities: New Zealand is willing to make efforts with China to speed up negotiations on upgrading their Free Trade Agreement which went into effect in 2008.

"We want to find ways to give people the opportunities to travel, to promote VISA facilitation and we also want to ensure that we maximize investments potentials in both directions," said Murray Mccully,New Zealand foreign minister.

Boosting economic growth is a priority for every country today. Frequent bilateral exchanges like this meeting act as a stimulus towards an early start of the upgrade to the China-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement.