BEIJING — During a meeting with her Chinese counterpart, New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta expressed concern to China over any distribution of lethal aid to support Russia in its conflict with Ukraine.

Days after Chinese President Xi Jinping returned from his trip to Moscow, which was a cordial affair during which Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin praised one another and spoke of their deep friendship, her press office provided details of Mahuta's cautionary remarks in Beijing on Saturday.

Mahuta's four-day trip, which started on Wednesday, was the first by a New Zealand foreign minister to Beijing since 2018. However, it came at a difficult time because Xi had traveled to Moscow the previous week to support Putin diplomatically after the ICC said it wanted to try him for alleged war crimes.

Mahuta reiterated to her counterpart Qin Gang the government's criticism of Moscow's "illegal invasion" of the Ukraine war.

According to China's official news agency Xinhua, she also informed Qin's predecessor Wang Yi, who is currently the Chinese Communist Party's top foreign policy representative, that peace and prosperity are what all parties expect. She was quoted in the report as saying that New Zealand supports the political resolution of disputes through dialogue.

The agency added that Wang stated that achieving a ceasefire and restarting peace talks are urgent tasks, and that China would continue to play a constructive role in advancing a political settlement.

According to her press office, Mahuta also expressed concerns about the South China Sea disputes, the deterioration of freedoms in Hong Kong, the Xinjiang human rights situation, and rising tensions in the Taiwan Strait during the meeting with Qin.

According to the office, the ministers also discussed Chris Hipkins' potential trip to China this year.

The country's largest trading partner is China, where milk products and other agricultural products are purchased by the country's exporters.