Yongxin Li, 19, last month admitted murdering Jiayi Li, known as Kiko, who was stabbed to death last year after a previous attempt to strangle her had failed.
He was also sentenced to seven years' jail, to be served concurrently, for the aggravated robbery of the 18-year-old student.
Her body was found in the boot of her car in Hamilton on June 2 last year after she went missing on May 19.
"The combination of attacks can only be described as highly brutal,'' said Auckland High Court judge Justice Christian Whata, sentencing Li to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 16 years.
He will be deported to China upon his release.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, Ms Li's father, Chang Kui Li, said that since his daughter's killing he had shut himself off at home to the level that his social contacts were diminishing and his business was going downhill.
Ms Li's stepmother, Yan Wang, said in her victim impact report her heart was filled with grief and indignation.
"She was my only hope, my future and my life.''
Crown lawyer Aaron Perkins said the killing was premeditated, with a plan drawn up to rob, kidnap and kill Ms Li.
There was an unusually high level of callousness involved in the murder, he said.
"There was a level of enthusiasm for this killing demonstrated by this prisoner that supports the contention that the killing was part of the objective rather than just a means to an end,'' he said.
"The killing had more to do with callousness and perversion rather than a means to avoid prosecution.''
Mr Perkins said there was also a high level of brutality as Ms Li was stabbed 22 times, and only after attempts to strangle her had failed.
The accused's lawyer David Niven said allowance should be made for his guilty plea, his youth and his lack of previous convictions.
Justice Whata said the crime warranted a starting point of life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 19 years, but gave him a discount of three years for his age, remorse, previous good record and his guilty plea.
