Yang Jian: General DebateText is subject to correctionYang Jian: General Debate[Sitting date: 13 November 2013. Volume:694;Page:29. Text is subject to correction.]Dr JIAN YANG (National): Wo hen hao xiexie. I am very proud to be part of this National-led Government. Under John Key’s leadership and after National’s first 5 years in Government New Zealand is in a much better economic position. Five years ago National inherited an economy from Labour with a current account deficit at almost9 percent of GDP. Inflation was at 5.1 percent. Homeowners were crippled by high mortgage interest rates averaging 10.9 percent. The Labour Government’s spending was up 50 percent and the economy was going nowhere but backwards.Five years on and how things have changed. The current account deficit is now 4.3 percent of GDP and inflation is now only 1.4 percent. Mortgage interest rates now average 5.9 percent so homeowners have been able to pay off their debt earlier. We have reduced Government spending despite the global financial crisis and the devastating Canterbury earthquakes.Five years ago the economy was shrinking under a Labour Government. In the past year our economy grew by about 2.5 percent which is one of the highest growth rates in the OECD and we are on track to return to surplus by 2014-15. Business and consumer confidence is at its highest levels. Over the past 2 years more than 65000 jobs have been created and unemployment is lower than in most developed countries. Our economic programme over the past 5 years is clearly delivering for New Zealand.The National-led Government has achieved this positive economic momentum by responsible fiscal management. We have not had to make major public sector cuts as seen overseas and we have actually increased our spending in key areas such as health and education. We have put in place plans that have made steady progress in delivering more jobs and higher incomes for New Zealanders and we have a busy agenda to ensure that this progress continues as our good work is not done.Five years ago our trade with our second-largest trading partner China stood at about $8.2 billion. We have worked hard at continuing that relationship. Now our trade volume with China has reached $17 billion. China is now our largest trading partner. More important New Zealand’s exports with China have more than trebled in 5 years from just $2.2 billion to over $8 billion. The National-led Government has also worked hard to grow New Zealand’s tourism which contributes almost 9 percent of our GDP. The number of visitors from China has almost doubled in 5 years from over 120000 in 2008 to about 230000.As I am speaking Minister Steven Joyce is visiting China to boost New Zealand’s education profile. Currently Chinese students account for 27 percent of our international students and inject about $800 million into our economy. Education is now our third-largest export to China after dairy and wood.Needless to say I am very proud of what our National-led Government has achieved in its first 5 years and I am confident that we will achieve more in the coming years. You may be aware that last week the Prime Minister launched the New Zealand Story project to help firms leverage off a strong narrative about New Zealand’s uniqueness. This will further enhance our brand in the world.Before I conclude I would like to say that as a Chinese National MP I am very proud of our Government’s continued support for New Zealand’s ethnic communities. We recognise that New Zealand is increasingly diverse and we want to build a strong and inclusive country where hard work is rewarded. We also want to ensure that our migrants and their families have access to information that would enable them to integrate more easily get ahead and help them have better lives in New Zealand. That is why we have—The debate having concluded the motion lapsed.