A pipe band from New Zealand performs during the Shanghai Tourism Festival in September 2018. Photo: VCG

New Zealand confirmed it will send a senior government official to the upcoming Belt and Road forum in April in Beijing, and said it values bilateral relations with China amid a backlash following Huawei's ban in the island country. 

"We are pleased to confirm that New Zealand Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker will represent New Zealand at the Belt and Road Forum in April 2019," a New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson told the Global Times in an email sent on Friday. 

China is a very important and highly valued partner for New Zealand, the spokesperson noted. "We have strong political, trade, and cultural ties. New Zealand places a very high priority on our relationship with China. It is a significant relationship that brings great benefit to both parties," the spokesperson added. 

The comments came after bilateral relations have soured in recent months, particularly after New Zealand, a major ally of the US, followed Washington's moves and barred Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei from building a 5G local network. 

In November, New Zealand authorities instructed Spark, a major local carrier in New Zealand, not to use Huawei's 5G technology, citing national security reasons. 

Spark said it has an opportunity to submit a proposal to a domestic intelligence agency to see if it could address concerns over Huawei's equipment. 

"Spark is still in discussions with GCSB [Government Communications Security Bureau] officials," Andrew Pirie, head of corporate relations of Spark, told the Global Times on Friday. "We are working through what possible mitigations we might be able to provide to address the concerns raised by the GCSB and have not yet made any decision on whether or when we should submit a revised proposal to GCSB," he noted. 

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Huawei has not been ruled out of playing a role in the development of the nation's 5G wireless communications network, media reported on Tuesday. 

"It is technically true that the use of Huawei 5G equipment has not been completely ruled out at this point but as things stand right now, we cannot use Huawei," Pirie said. 

New Zealand's ban on Huawei sparked widespread complaints from Chinese netizens and seemed to have affected its tourism, which is crucial to the country's GDP growth.  

China postponed an event to launch the 2019 China-New Zealand Year of Tourism, which had been scheduled to take place on February 20 at Te Papa in Wellington, New Zealand, according to a Reuters report.

New Zealand is also looking forward to the minister's participation in the B&R Forum as a means of New Zealand learning more about the B&R Initiative, and how it might work as an arrangement in benefiting New Zealand and China, according to the spokesperson.