Chief Asia Presenter is by Karishma Vaswani.
New Zealand has been aware of its growing interest in China for some time.
The need to work together with China on areas of natural mutual interest was spoken of by Ms Ardern.
She stood by what she said was her country's mature relationship with Beijing, but still expressed her disappointment that the Solomon Islands had forged a security deal with China.
She said that there is an agreement signed by Pacific Island forum members called the "Biketawa" declaration, which sets an expectation for these countries to provide for their own security needs together as a region.
One of the reasons we have expressed our disappointment is. She said that Australia and New Zealand had responded to the call of the Solomons.
We are there to help and support if there is an extended need. What gap remains that needs to be bridged with China?
The idea that New Zealand should join the US, UK, and Australia in the Aukus security alliance was rejected by Ms Ardern despite her reservations.
She said that the call on Aukus is to our benefit when we have more engagement.
She said that they have asked the US to take an interest in the economic architecture of the region.
It should be about the wellbeing of the region as a whole. You are starting to see a response from the US.
New Zealand has not taken a harder line on China.
Critics say that New Zealand will form its own relationship with China because of its economic dependence.
The government came under fire for agreeing to extradite a New Zealand permanent resident accused of murdering a young woman in China.
Wellington has a relationship with Beijing.
China is a very important trading partner for us, but it is also a mature relationship for us. Where there are areas we can work together, we will - but there will always be areas in which we will not agree and when those areas arise, we are very clear on our position.
The war in Ukraine is one area where New Zealand has been vocal.
It imposed sanctions on Russia.
When the international order is threatened, small nations need to rely on it to be upheld, and that threatens everyone, including New Zealand.
She refused to frame it as a conflict between democracies and autocracies.
Let's not create a situation where there are two different schisms in the world. It is Russia who has done this, and they must be spoken against, so let's do everything we can to make sure that doesn't grow beyond Russia.
The prime minister defended New Zealand's Covid response, saying that it was the best possible health response given that New Zealand has had some of the lowest death rates in the developed world.
Her policies have been called bumbling and her government has accused of being asleep at the wheel, for failing to move the country out of lockdown faster.
Recent surveys show her lowest approval ratings since she was elected.
Ms Ardern said that the lower ratings were a price she had to pay to keep New Zealanders safe and to make sure that we can sleep at night.
Fans of Ms Ardern say she is the real deal, authentic and compassionate, just what a politician should and can be. Her critics say it is more talk than action and style than substance, and that she struggles to manifest the commitments she has made to her people.
The New Zealand leader was straightforward in his response.
She said that she wanted to model the qualities that she considers important to teach her daughter.
I would like to think that we can see a new range of leadership traits being modeled where kindness isn't seen as weakness, where empathy is actually how we understand our decisions impact on our people. When we start to model those, I hope that the public will see a little more of themselves.
What about wedding bells?
She had to put off her wedding because of her job.
The pressures of public life are something Ms Ardern is honest about.
She said there was no set date for wedding planning. Just an intention. When you live together, have a child together, just intention is enough.
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