“We both have a vested interest in China-US relations being stable and not being complicated or further sharpened, in terms of the hostility or lack of trust on both sides,” Lee said.

Ardern said New Zealand had been sending the “same message” throughout.

“What is happening in Ukraine is an assault on a country’s sovereignty and their territorial integrity … and so we continue to encourage, at every level, China to continue to acknowledge what the Ukraine conflict represents for the world,” she said.

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Ardern said disputes “must be solved through dialogue and not intimidation or coercion”.

“It is clear that the world is changing and that events such as the crisis in Ukraine are putting considerable pressure on the international rules based order,” she said.

The Beehive on Tuesday unveiled new sanctions targeting Russia’s largest banks and financial institutions, as part of New Zealand’s response to the invasion of Ukraine.

The central bank and the sovereign wealth fund were among three core government financial bodies affected, said Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta in Wellington, as well as eight of Russia’s largest banks and seven others with ties to oligarchs, the defence sector and the annexation of Crimea.

Ardern, whose six-day trip to Singapore and Japan has been closely watched at home, earlier on Tuesday called on Singapore’s President Halimah Yacob and had a new orchid hybrid, the Dendrobium Jacinda Ardern, named in her honour.

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Separately, Singapore, Chile and New Zealand are part of a new Digital Economy Partnership Agreement – seen by observers as possibly the antecedent of a major global pact that deals with e-commerce and other matters to do with the digital realm – that Lee said other countries were now keen to join.

Ardern and Lee on Tuesday also announced their countries would work together on climate change and the green economy, an area which would form the “fifth pillar” in the existing Singapore-New Zealand Enhanced Partnership.

The areas of collaboration include energy transition technology, carbon markets, sustainable aviation and low-carbon shipping, and waste management.

The two leaders had sealed the partnership in 2019, during the New Zealand premier’s last visit to Singapore. The other four pillars of the agreement are trade and economics; security and defence; science, technology and innovation; and people to people links.

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Lee called climate change “the existential challenge of all times” and said Singapore and New Zealand shared similar perspectives on the issue.

“This new pillar of cooperation reflects our shared commitment to implement the Paris Agreement and work together to seize growth economies and the green economy growth opportunities in the green economy,” he said.

On climate change, Ardern noted that the coming months “must be an age of action” with the private sector working alongside governments, which was why she had “consciously travelled to Singapore with a delegation of New Zealand business leaders”.

She said there was “considerable scope” for companies from both countries to cooperate, including on sustainability initiatives, agrifood, healthcare, tourism and trading architecture.

“We cannot collectively simply return to a high carbon emissions business-as-usual approach,” she said.

Meanwhile, New Zealand will from May 1 reopen its borders to travellers from countries that have visa-waivers, including Singapore. The city state has since the start of April allowed vaccinated travellers to enter from New Zealand quarantine-free.

“The reopening of borders is an important step towards living with Covid-19, and is critical in restoring the people-to-people and business links between both countries and with the rest of the world,” said Singapore’s foreign ministry in a press statement.

The two countries will on May 5 also expand the working holiday scheme that will enable 300 young Singaporeans to spend up to 12 months in New Zealand, and vice versa.

Additional reporting by Reuters