China willing to deepen mutual political trust with Cook Islands, premier says

China is willing to deepen mutual political trust with the Cook Islands, China's Premier Li Qiang said during a meeting with Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown, China's national television broadcaster reported on Friday.

The two sides would deepen cooperations in marine infrastructure, people-to-people and cultural exchanges and other fields, Li said. Brown was in China's northeastern city of Harbin on Friday to attend the closing ceremony of the Asian Winter Games.

Brown's trip to China, the first by a leader of the small South Pacific nation in a decade, has drawn ire from New Zealand, with whom the Cook Islands has a special political relationship.