Chinese firms cash in on spinoff from trade forum

By Karyn Scherer

Toilet bowls, artificial sweetener and agricultural machinery were just some of the products Chinese companies tried to sell in Auckland this week.

A trade delegation, organised by the Chinese Government and its official mouthpiece, the People's Daily, set up shop in the Downtown Convention Centre on Monday and yesterday to capitalise on Apec.

It claimed to have done at least $US2 million ($3.76 million) worth of business.

While interest in the trade fair appeared to be poor, the organisers said they were delighted with the 100 or so visitors that dropped by.

One of the fair's main contributors, an import and export company known as the Chinese Commodity Distribution Centre, plans to open an office in Auckland after encouraging interest from local firms.

The company, which deals with mechanical and electrical equipment, agricultural machinery, household appliances, chemical products, textiles, food and building materials, has offices in Australia and Fiji.

Company president Wu Wei said he was keen to talk to local businesses about joint ventures.

Mr Wu is also involved in enterprises such as Janfull Investments, a Hong Kong-based investment firm that invests in highway building, property development and international trading. He also has an interest in satellite communications.

One local company to visit the fair was Auckland-based Tracknet Global, which supplies GPS tracking and communications equipment for vehicles.

Managing director Stewart Morgan said he was keen to do business in China and planned to follow up the contacts he had made.

"Really they're here flogging their own bibs and bobs and we didn't really expect to flog ours."

Another exhibitor at the trade fair, the Tangshan Ceramic Group, claimed to have done more than $US2 million worth of business.

The group has been approved as one of 120 experimental enterprise groups in China, and is that country's largest supplier of bathroom products. It is also well known for its bone china, porcelain and tiles.

Zhang Jia Gang Hope Chemicals said it was optimistic that it would strike a deal to distribute its own brand of artificial sweetener, known as acesulfame-K, in New Zealand and throughout the Pacific.