My Perspective: Pacific watches as PM visits China’s leadership

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is in China with a delegation of senior New Zealand business leaders.

They left yesterday morning and he will be meeting with China's top leadership including President Xi Jinping with Premier Li Qiang to discuss the bilateral relationship and key regional and global issues. China's growing influence in the Pacific has no doubt sparked global concern particularly from Australia and the US.

With the new Trump administration we've seen the freeze of funding through USAID in the region which has resulted in major job losses and the need for essential projects in the Pacific region.

Essentially it's created a vacuum that China has been quick to fill. From visa-free travels which we saw Sāmoa sign earlier this year, China's presence is just no longer economic, it's political and increasingly military.

While New Zealand likes to brand itself as a Pacific partner the question really is whether it's keeping pace or is it being outplayed. A big part of this is visa-free travel when it comes to what can New Zealand offer for the Pacific region.

We can't match up to the military or funding that China and the US provide but the least we can offer is labour mobility which is through visa-free travel. Luxon has said it's not a priority for this Government.

Although we've seen the recent announcement where they're allowing visitors from the Pacific to have multi-entry visas but also making it easier for Pacific nationals in Australia to visit New Zealand visa-free which honestly isn't a big difference.

As Luxon shakes hands in Beijing every move is being watched closely from the Pacific.