increase font size
Tim Knox.
China's president Xi Jinping being reaffirmed as that country’s leader for the next five years is positive for New Zealand trade, says Tim Knox, MPI director of market access, policy and trade branch.
“China is particularly important to us as a market and we are trying to do our best to work with China as they are going through some substantial change,” Knox told the recent Infant Nutrition Council in Auckland.
“Many things are happening in China which are influencing its thinking and ultimately our trade.”
Knox says President’s Xi reaffirmation as leader at the 19th Party Congress “was an important step in being clear about the direction for the next five years and potentially more”.
“His agenda and his power base have been well and truly reinforced. And I think we will see a continued trend on the sorts of issues he has been focused on.”
President Xi’s Belt and Road initiative – one Knox says he heard about every day while in Beijing – is a big geopolitical move by China.
This mega-infrastructure project is intended to create a China-centred trade network connecting Asia, Africa and Europe. It would encompass about 60 countries and Oceania is included.
“It is also a great opportunity in our view, for countries like NZ, to leverage the desire to facilitate trade,” says Knox. “We see the cooperation agreement that the NZ government signed with China on Belt and Road as a fantastic opportunity to push ahead our trade facilitation agenda focusing on not just the rules but how things get cleared into the market and the cost of doing that.
“There is a big effort going on here and in China to look at where China and NZ can get together to progress Belt and Road initiatives and trade facilitation.”
Knox says President Xi has made it clear he expects the regulators to work harder to facilitate trade.
“We are already seeing a shift in attitude from some of our counterparts there as a result of that.
“China is in transition from a production to consumer economy.
That is expected to continue and increase the demand for high quality products and services. The top 5-10% of Chinese consumers are expected to continue to increase in wealth and purchasing power,” he added.
The recent East Coast Farming Expo, held over two days at Wairoa, offered an insight into the current state of agriculture on the east of the North Island, at a time when the locals are remembering the second anniversary of Cyclone Gabrielle.
OPINION: At last, a serious effort to better connect farmers and scientists.
An initiative by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) to connect farmers with scientists is taking off judging by the response at recent regional field days.
Scientists from the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) are part of an international team working to develop a low-cost diagnostic tool that could significantly improve food crop production in developing countries.
A company growing and processing seaweed with known methane-busting properties at a facility in Bluff is expanding internationally but New Zealand cattle farmers won't be getting the product anytime soon.
Federated Farmers supports a review of the current genetic technology legislation but insists that a farmer’s right to either choose or reject it must be protected.
New Zealand’s top business leaders are urging the US Administration to review “unjustified and discriminatory tariffs” imposed on Kiwi exporters.
New tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump signal an uncertain future, but New Zealand farmers know how to adapt to changing conditions, says Auriga Martin, chief executive of Farm Focus.
A global trade war beckons, which is bad news for a small open economy like New Zealand, warns Mark Smith ASB senior economist.
Carterton's Awakare Farm has long stood as a place where family, tradition and innovation intersect.
Fonterra says the US continues to be an important market for New Zealand dairy and the co-op.
OPINION: At last, a serious effort to better connect farmers and scientists.
OPINION: If you believe Maori Party president John Tamihere’s claim that “nothing dodgy” occurred at Manurewa Marae during the last…
