Ak's China Business Summit

This year's China Business Summit was held in Auckland on July 20, attracting a wide range of speakers from government and business for the first major business conference since COVID lockdown. 

500 delegates got the latest on the post-COVID Chinese market in tourism and education, lessons from NZ companies who have successfully overcome supply chain disruption, and strategies by Kiwi businesses in dealing with trade and logistics.

There was also a dose of politics, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and NZ Chinese Ambassador Wu Xi putting forward emphatic but differing perspectives on issues of human rights in China , and the on-going political tremors in Hong Kong - while at the same time maintaining an economic relationship the PM described as being "in good shape".

We spoke to the Asia New Zealand Foundation's Business programme (https://www.asianz.org.nz/business/internships/) director, Felicity Roxburgh who was among those attending, as well as being part of a panel looking at the post-COVID business environment in Auckland.

 The China Business Summit has become a bit of a fixture in the Auckland calendar - why is it so popular ?

It's hard to overstate the importance of the China market for the NZ economy, and for a broad range of individual businesses and sectors. This is not just about exporters, for example we also heard from CEO of ANZ Antonia Watson about developments in the banking sector. The Summit is the chance to hear both the latest thinking on COVID recovery from NZ's largest companies like Fonterra,Air New Zealand and others - along with the political views from the top.

Many businesses do understand that their ability to operate successfully in China depends on the health of the bilateral relationship,so it's a chance to hear the latest detail around that direct from the PM, Minister of Trade and Chinese Ambassador Madame Wu Xi.

This year was particularly well attended as China has played a role in keeping some exports up COVID - and because people were really keen to get back together face-to-face. This was the first major business event since lockdown, and there was a real buzz as people were catching up. 

 China has become a bright spot in a darker trading world this year - how are NZ business-people feeling about trade with China going forward?

 I think there's recognition that China, and Asia, will be important in the COVID recovery story. At the same time the pandemic has laid bare some of the supply chain difficulties, (over)reliance issues and sourcing of raw materials. So some businesses will be re-thinking how they operate there. The challenge of going digital is now forefront for many companies, as is how to maintain business relationships while we can't travel.

 Trade figures have very solid in the past few months - which sectors have done the best?

There's a strong appetite for our healthy, clean, immune-boosting food, and so lots of opportunities for companies with those products. As has been widely reported Kiwifruit has been one of the best performing exports, in part due to Vitamin-C content, and always hugely popular in China. There is an increased focus in China around 'safe food' in the sense of being free from the virus - so there's a trust factor in New Zealand, our regulation, systems and processes. 

The political themes were strong at this year's Summit - what did attendees make of the statement from Chinese Ambassador Wu Xi that essentially New Zealand should mind its own business when it comes to China's domestic political issues?

I think most people would have heard or read about that line before, so are well aware of the political sensitivities around Hong Kong and other domestic Chinese issues. It's not clear the extent to which kiwi businesses understand the impact that a significant challenge in the political relationship - if NZ were to put a foot wrong in China's eyes - could have on their own direct commercial interests. It's also not that clear how many China-focused companies in NZ currently have a "plan B" - just in case.

 E-Commerce was big over the lockdown period in NZ - what have Kiwi exporters learned about e-commerce with China lately ?

There's a move to more Business to Consumer (B2C) direct trade as E-commerce is becoming increasingly important. There is a direct feedback loop in E-commerce so businesses really need to know their customers. At the same time, there is huge competition through E-commerce channels, so we heard how companies need to think hard about their value-add, when competing with an increasing range of alternative quality products - in the supermarket retail sector for example.

Auckland's Asian diaspora continues to increase/ photo Chen Kehan

The conference featured a session on Auckland's economy and the impact of COVID-19 there - what were the main takeaways from that ?

 I think the main thing was that we have an increasing Asian diaspora here (30% of the population) with vibrant business eco-systems in the city, and extensive offshore networks. We could do better to connect and share knowledge, and this could be of huge benefit to growing Auckland in recovery.

The idea of China joining the CPTPP was also thrown around - could that ever happen ?  

The Asia New Zealand Foundation sponsored Madame Hu Shuli, a respected Chinese journalist and founder of the Caixin magazine to address the Summit.

Hu said that while China still has a lot of work to do to meet the conditions of joining the CPTPP - from reform in "state-owned enterprises to data security" - other countries with similar economic and political systems had signed up.

Caixin magazine founder Madame Hu Shuli speaks to the Summit /photo AsiaNZ

She intimated that the conditions are maturing for China to join - and Hu is very plugged in, so we can read quite a lot into that.

Ambassador Wu also underscored China's interest in the multilateral trading system, and every one of her speeches is carefully pored over - and there's no such thing as a throw-away line in diplomacy, especially not when China's involved!

 - Asia Media Centre