Symposium and Photo Exhibition in Auckland Honour Rewi Alley’s Legacy

Dragon Media News Desk

A symposium and photo exhibition were held in Auckland on Saturday to commemorate the contributions of New Zealand-born writer, social reformer and educator Rewi Alley and promote friendship between New Zealand and China.

The exhibition, organised in New Zealand’s largest city, presented rare photographs depicting the memorable years Alley spent in China. Some of the images were displayed publicly for the first time.

Alley arrived in China in 1927 and spent 60 years there working as a writer, social reformer, educator and advocate of friendship between China and New Zealand. He died of illness in Beijing in 1987.

Addressing the event, Chinese Ambassador to New Zealand Wang Xiaolong praised Alley’s significant contributions to China’s social development and to relations between the two countries.

Wang said the spirit embodied by Alley remained timeless and had become a valuable asset of China-New Zealand friendship. Noting that 2027 will mark the centenary of Alley’s arrival in China, he said both countries would use the occasion to deepen exchanges and cooperation in various fields.

He expressed confidence that the centenary would provide further opportunities to advance bilateral relations to a new level.

Other speakers at the symposium reflected on Alley’s contributions, humanitarian values and noble character from their own experiences and perspectives. They pledged to uphold the “Alley spirit” and continue strengthening friendly relations between New Zealand and China.

Participants said Alley’s life and work had become an important foundation for mutual understanding, people-to-people relations and cultural exchanges between the two countries.