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Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Friday that China would consider hosting the third Belt & Road Forum for International Cooperation next year, which would be the first staging of the event since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Belt & Road is Xi's signature infrastructure investment initiative, and previous editions of the forum, in 2017 and 2019, drew leaders and officials from dozens of countries.

However, China has all-but-shut its borders since COVID and cancelled most big in-person international events that it had been due to host.

China has recently begun to ease some elements of its strict zero-COVID policy, even as the country battles surging outbreaks in numerous cities, with many analysts predicting more significant opening up starting in March or April.

Xi was speaking on Friday at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gathering in Bangkok.

In February, Beijing staged the Winter Olympics inside a "closed loop". (Reuters)

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern discussed bilateral relations and areas of co-operation with China's President Xi Jinping on Friday, while also raising concerns about human rights and the Taiwan Strait, the New Zealand government said.

The two leaders met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Bangkok. This was their first in-person meeting since 2019.

A New Zealand government readout said Ardern spoke to Xi of the strength of the bilateral connection and significant areas of cooperation including trade, agriculture, climate change and the environment.

It added that she also raised New Zealand's concerns regarding Xinjiang, Hong Kong, the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait.

"Noting New Zealand's interest in peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, the Prime Minister acknowledged China's long standing relationships in the Pacific, but encouraged that where issues or cooperation impacted the wider Pacific region, engagement with regional architecture such as the Pacific Islands Forum was key," it said.

New Zealand has long been seen as the moderate, even absent, voice on China in the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance.

However, New Zealand's tone on both security and China's growing presence in the South Pacific toughened this year after China and the Solomon Islands struck a security pact.

But while Australia's relationship with China has deteriorated, New Zealand and China's interactions have remained largely cordial.

The readout said Ardern had encouraged China to use its influence and access to help address regional and international security challenges such North Korea's behaviour and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"The Prime Minister registered the importance of working together to sustain the rules, norms and systems that have served the region and the world so well for so many decades," the readout said. (Reuters)

Kenya's former president Uhuru Kenyatta and Rwanda's President Paul Kagame have agreed on the need for M23 rebels to cease fire and withdraw from captured territories in east Congo, the East African Community (EAC) bloc said on Friday.

M23 rebels have waged several offensives in east Congo this year, their first major come-back since 2012, prompting clashes with the army that have displaced thousands of civilians since March.

The unrest ignited diplomatic tensions between Congo and neighbouring Rwanda, which Congo accuses of backing the group. Rwanda denies the accusation.

Regional efforts are under way to ease relations between the two countries and end the conflict unfolding along their border.

Kenyatta visited Congo this week as facilitator for the seven-member EAC and African Union peace envoy.

He had meetings in Kinshasa and visited displaced people in the key eastern city of Goma, to which the M23 drew closer this week.

Upon his return, Kenyatta and Kagame both agreed via telephone "on the need for an immediate ceasefire", the EAC said in a statement.

Kagame also agreed to assist Kenyatta in urging the M23 to lay down arms and withdraw from captured territories, the statement added.

Modalities will be discussed during a second round of talks in Angola's capital Luanda next week, it said.

Angola's President Joao Lourenco mediated a first meeting between Congo and Rwanda officials earlier this month.

"It is encouraging to see Paul Kagame recognize that he can influence the M23," Congo's President Felix Tshisekedi's deputy spokesperson told Reuters.

"We will see what happens on the ground," she added.

Rwanda's government spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

When it formed in 2012, M23 was the newest in a series of ethnic Tutsi-led insurgencies to rise up against Congolese forces.

Rebels seized vast swathes of territory in 2012 and briefly overran Goma before they were chased out by Congolese and United Nations forces into Uganda and Rwanda the following year.

They have staged three major offensives since March. The latest at the end of October caused a new wave of displacement. (Reuters)

France, Germany and Spain have reached agreement on starting the next phase of development of a new fighter jet dubbed FCAS, Europe's largest defence project at an estimated cost of more than 100 billion euros ($103.4 billion), Berlin said on Friday.

Germany's Defence Ministry said in a statement that an industrial agreement was achieved after intense negotiations, confirming an earlier Reuters story saying the three countries and their respective industries had struck a deal.

The ministry said it was agreed at the highest government level that a cooperative approach on an equal footing would be pursued in the project, which is under overall French responsibility.

"The political agreement on FCAS is a great step and - especially in these times - an important sign of the excellent Franco-German-Spanish cooperation," German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht said.

"It strengthens Europe's military capabilities and secures important know-how not only for our, but also for the European industry."

Previously, sources had said that the next development phase for the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) was expected to cost about 3.5 billion euros, to be shared equally by the three countries.

France's Dassault (AM.PA), Airbus (AIR.PA) and Indra (IDR.MC) - the latter two representing Germany and Spain, respectively - are involved in the scheme to start replacing French Rafale and German and Spanish Eurofighters from 2040.

"Now, a number of formal steps in the respective countries have to be taken in order to allow a speedy contract signature which we will have to adhere to," Airbus said in e-mailed comments.

French President Emmanuel Macron and then German Chancellor Angela Merkel first announced plans in July 2017 for FCAS, which will include a fighter jet and a range of associated weapons, including drones.

Lately, the project - originally meant to unify Europeans after the migration crisis and Britain's decision to leave the European Union - has been a source of tension between the two countries.

Last month, Macron cancelled a joint Franco-German ministerial meeting over disagreements with Berlin on a wide range of issues including defence and energy projects.

Both sides had been struggling for more than a year to agree the next stage of FCAS's development, although the French and German government broadly agreed on the project.

Some sources saw the blame lying with Dassault, as the company had refused to budge in a long-running row over intellectual property rights.

Other sources blamed Airbus for pushing for a bigger workshare of the Dassault-led project, insisting it should be given "equal footing" with the French company. (Reuters)