Statistics New Zealand say visitor arrivals from China were down 9,900 or 21 per cent from the same month last year, reaching 36,000 in April 2019.

This was despite the timing of Easter, boosting arrivals from other countries such as Australia, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and the United States.

Population indicators manager Tehseen Islam says last year, visitor arrivals from China were buoyed by an incentive scheme from Amway, which saw an additional 6000 visitors from China in April 2018.

'Even taking these numbers into account, visitor numbers from China were still lower than 2017.”

Visitor arrivals from China were also down 20,400 for the year ended April 2019. However, visitors from China remain at high levels and China is still the second largest visitor market after Australia.

Statistics New Zealand also say annual net migration has remained at high levels since the December 2014 year.

Tehseen says since late 2014, annual net migration has ranged between 48,000 and 64,000.

'The only previous time net migration was at these levels was for a short period in the early 2000s.”