Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says the West is often too tough on China over freedom issues, given the country is lifting millions out of poverty.

In his first major foreign policy speech in this new Government, delivered to the Confucius Institute of Wellington's Victoria University on Tuesday morning, Peters indicated no major shift in New Zealand's policy towards China.

Trade and cultural links were highlighted, as was a general commitment to a "stable rules based [international] order" - although no specific mention of the dispute in the South China Seas was made.

PHIL REID/STUFF Prime Minister Helen Clark about to introduce Winston Peters to the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in 2006.

Near the end of the speech, after reciting a list of dates and institutions that had formed the relationship, Peters addressed civil rights issues.

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"New Zealand and China do not always see eye-to-eye on every issue ... but where we do have a different perspective we raise this in a way that is cordial, constructive, and hopefully clear," Peters said.

ANDREW GORRIE/STUFF Foreign Minister Winston Peters meeting with Chinese vice foreign minister, left, Yang Jiechi and Ambassador Zhang Yuanyuan in 2005, during his last stint as Foreign Minister.

"We should also remember this when we are making judgements about China - about freedom and their laws: that when you have hundreds of millions of people to be re-employed and relocated with the change of your economic structure, you have some massive, huge problems.

"Sometimes the West and commentators in the West should have a little more regard to that and the economic outcome for those people, rather than constantly harping on about the romance of 'freedom', or as famous singer Janis Joplin once sang in her song: 'freedom is just another word for nothing else to lose'.

"In some ways the Chinese have a lot to teach us about uplifting everyone's economic futures in their plans."

This aside was not included in the official text of the speech.

Chinese citizens do not enjoy most of the civil rights that those in the West do. There are no free national elections, the Internet is heavily censored, freedom of expression restricted, and human rights activists have been recently detained without charge, according to Human Rights Watch.

Meanwhile, the World Bank estimate that China has lifted almost 800 million people out of poverty since 1978, the largest such uplift in human history.

Opposition Foreign Affairs spokesman Gerry Brownlee did not take huge issue with Peter's comments themselves - which present a somewhat-common view on China in the foreign policy community - but said it was rich for him to suddenly appear friendly to China.

"I don't think we are too tough on them, I think we understand the challenges they've got but we don't drop our own standards, but it's extraordinary that Mr. Peters is making this case after so many years of telling New Zealanders that anyone who came from Asia was an issue," Brownlee said.

"He's the man who has led the charge with all sorts of bias against China over a number of years.

"New Zealand does have very strong relations with China and most New Zealanders understand that is a very good thing for us."

Peters was Foreign Minister during the negotiation of New Zealand's free trade agreement with China in 2008.

During his speech he made a small mention of the attempt to "upgrade" the agreement, saying "I for one do not think it will be as easy as some people think."

This aside was also absent from the official text of the remarks.