Lawrence Xu-Nan

Lawrence Xi Xu-Nan was born in Tianjin, China, with his ancestral home in Shandong. His family name is jointly taken from his father's, Xu, and his mother's, Nan. Xu-Nan first moved to New Zealand with his parents in 1994, before briefly returning to China, where he attended primary school. Then his family moved to New Zealand and settled in East Auckland in 1997, when he was 11.^[2] Xu-Nan describes being raised by his single mother, who divorced from his father from a young age.

Xu-Nan attended intermediate and secondary school in Pakuranga. He enrolled at the University of Auckland, where he earned a dual Bachelor's degree in Pharmacology and Ancient History, then a Master's degree, and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Egyptology.^[3]

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Xu-Nan joined the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand. He was the party's male policy co-convenor from 2020 to 2023 and party co-convenor from 2023.

At the 2020 general election, Xu-Nan contested the Pakuranga electorate and was placed 17th on the Green Party list.^[4][5] In 2023 Xu-Nan contested the Epsom electorate. He was placed 16th on the Green Party list, but was ranked too low to win a list seat at the election.^[6] Following the death of Efeso Collins on 21 February 2024, Xu-Nan was declared elected as a member of Parliament by the Electoral Commission on 6 March.^[7][8]

Since 2024, Xu-Nan has been the Green Party spokesperson for courts, education, ethnic communities, justice, overseas New Zealanders, seniors, and trade. Since January 2025, he has sat as a member of the justice committee.^[9]

In July 2026, Foreign Minister Winston Peters told Xu-Nan to "go back to your own country" during a debate on the government's COVID-19 response. Peters' comments were condemned as racist and attention-seeking by New Zealand's Race Relations Commissioner Melissa Derby, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Labour deputy leader Carmel Sepuloni and fellow Green MP Tamatha Paul. The Chinese Ambassador Wang Xiaolong criticised Peters' remarks as a reflection of his character and the Chinese Embassy in New Zealand lodged a complaint with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.^[10][11] Xu-Nan later described Peters' comments as a "desperate attempt to distract from the coalition's record" and criticised the Foreign Minister for "scapegoating" migrants.^[12] On 31 July, Luxon defended Xu-Nan's right to speak in Parliament and described Peters' comments as "very offensive and completely inappropriate." While he retained Peters as Foreign Minister, Luxon urged voters to vote for National to ensure that Cabinet seats were occupied by National MPs rather than coalition parties.^[13]

Xu-Nan is queer.^[14]