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.
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.
