Thursday, 10 March 2016 09:55

What’s our problem with the Chinese? — Editorial

Written by  Sudesh Kissun
Shanghai Pengxin has been vilified over the years for its strategy of buying farms in New Zealand. Shanghai Pengxin has been vilified over the years for its strategy of buying farms in New Zealand.

It was good to see Shanghai Pengxin open its doors last week.

The Chinese company invited dairy industry leaders to hear what they've  done with the former Crafar farms and to see some of the changes on two of them.

Shanghai Pengxin has been vilified over the years for its strategy of buying farms in New Zealand.

They rightly question the rules and decisions governing the purchase of NZ land and imply the Chinese are treated differently from other nationalities who also buy NZ farms.

Some critics of Chinese land buying pose the question, since Kiwis are prohibited from buying land in China why should Chinese nationals be allowed to buy land here? Maybe there is some validity to that, but would a long term leasing arrangement address this issue?

Some Kiwis seem to think the Chinese, in particular Shanghai Pengxin, will somehow take over Aotearoa, making us tenants in our own country. The critics fear something insidious in China's buying 'spree'.

But we don't hear of such angst when a wealthy opptortunist Israeli, Australian, Brit or American buys a bit of NZ. With Donald Trump attracting huge support in the US presidential race one has to wonder whether NZ has more to fear from the US than from China.

In fact, Shanghai Pengxin has done a lot of good for the NZ dairy industry. It has brought up to standard 16 dairy farms that clearly needed massive cash injection. $20 million has been spent on the farms and that money has gone to local suppliers. Surely that's good news.

Shanghai Pengxin has worked well with its joint venture partner Landcorp to manage these farms to achieve their potential. And they have entered another joint venture with the Maori dairy company Miraka to produce UHT milk for the Chinese market. This has created many well paid jobs for NZers.

As part of its deal with the OIO, Shanghai Pengxin last week opened a $1 million academy to train future leaders.

The programme is fully funded by Pengxin NZ Farm Management so attendance is free for all participating students; it will also award annual 'Theland' scholarships worth $10,000

Shanghai Pengxin can rightly feel aggrieved at the way it is sometimes dismissed as being bad for NZ. The reality is quite the opposite and perhaps the critics need to get out of their glasshouses in the cities and see the reality in the country.

More like this

Strong wool eyes China

China looks set to play a key role in helping the New Zealand wool sector shift away from trading as a commodity supplier.

NZ wine grapples with oversupply despite export gains

The large 2025 harvest will exacerbate the wine industry's "lingering" supply from recent vintages, New Zealand Winegrowers Chief Executive Philip Gregan told attendees at Grape Days events around the country in June.

Featured

Owl Farm marks 10 years as NZ’s first demonstration dairy farm

In 2015, the signing of a joint venture between St Peter's School, Cambridge, and Lincoln University saw the start of an exciting new chapter for Owl Farm as the first demonstration dairy farm in the North Island. Ten years on, the joint venture is still going strong.

National

Machinery & Products

New McHale terra drive axle option

Well-known for its Fusion baler wrapper combination, Irish manufacturer McHale has launched an interesting option at the recent Irish Ploughing…

Amazone unveils flagship spreader

With the price of fertiliser still significantly higher than 2024, there is an increased onus on ensuring its spread accurately at…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

A very low road

OPINION: The self righteous activists at Greenpeace are copying the self-righteous lefties behind the ‘free Palestine’ movement – not surprising given…

Tough times

OPINION: Dairy industry players are also falling by the wayside as the economic downturn bites around the country.

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter