In an exclusive interview with People's Daily Online last Sunday, New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser said that his country looks forward to enlarging its share of the Chinese tourism market.

"I think it is true some 50 million foreign trips are made by Chinese people every year, or a similar figure, and that number has probably grown since I last looked at the data; we look forward to taking our share of that business," Groser said, speaking of the increase in tourist numbers from China to New Zealand.

According to statistics released by New Zealand's Ministry of Business in February, a total of 228,928 visits were made by Chinese tourists (excluding Hong Kong and Macau) to New Zealand in 2013, a 16 percent growth from last year, contributing an expenditure of $732 million, or 7 percent more than in 2012.

"The number of flights between China and New Zealand keeps growing, and we want to put forward attractive offers to the Chinese people," the trade minister said.

When asked how the recent appreciation of the New Zealand dollar would affect New Zealand's attractiveness to Chinese tourists, Groser explained that the increase in value of the New Zealand currency reflects faith in the country's economy.

"Right now we're the fastest growing developed country in the world, when many of the developed economies are going through severe structural problems. The appreciation of the New Zealand dollar will impact on our competitiveness in all aspects, including tourism; New Zealand is not a cheap country, but it's by no means a high-cost country either," he said.