Xi's visit big chance to push NZ Inc

NZ Herald

17 Nov, 2014 04:00 PM3 mins to read

Mr Xi will meet the NZ China Council on Friday. Photo / File

Chinese media reports seen by millions a ‘huge opportunity’ for local businesses

Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit is a massive marketing opportunity for New Zealand, with a large contingent of media from the world's second-biggest economy set to arrive on our shores this week, says NZ China Council executive director Pat English.

Accompanied by his folk singer wife, Peng Liyuan, Xi will become the first Chinese head of state to visit this country since Hu Jintao in 2003 when he arrives in Auckland tomorrow evening for a two-day visit.

Engagements will include a state luncheon at Wellington's Government House on Thursday and a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister John Key.

Xi, who last visited New Zealand as Vice-President in 2010, returns to Auckland on Friday where he will meet the NZ China Council, attend a food and beverage showcase lunch and visit the New Zealand Bloodstock facility at Karaka.

English said the visiting journalists would be filing reports on other topics such as culture and "New Zealand life".

"All of that [coverage] is beamed back to hundreds of millions of people in China."

China is already New Zealand's second-biggest market for inbound tourists, behind Australia. "It's a huge opportunity for New Zealand," English said of the visit.

The publicity was particularly attractive given the cost of Chinese television advertising. "China is now one of the world's most expensive places to advertise on TV. Effectively what we get in China is TV-time with the President's visit."

Fonterra's botulism false alarm in August 2013 - which was very badly received in China - dominated media coverage of Key's visit to Beijing in March. But English said the food scare was unlikely to be brought up this week.

"I think we're well beyond that and it's looking to the future of the relationship," he said.

Xi's visit will follow the historic signing in Canberra yesterday of a free trade agreement (FTA) between Australia and the world's most populous nation.

New Zealand became the first developed country to reach an FTA with China, now our biggest trading partner, in 2008 and bilateral trade between the two countries has grown exponentially since, reaching $20 billion this year.

English said Australia's export mix to China was likely to be similar to ours once minerals were removed. But he was unsure whether the freshly inked FTA across the Tasman posed a competitive threat to New Zealand.

Media reports there claimed Australia could end up with a better FTA than New Zealand's, without the "protective safeguards" that reapply tariffs to this country's dairy exports once certain quotas are reached.

"Our agreement is well solidified and it isn't about the signing of an FTA - it's about the institutional relationships that support it," English said. "[Australia] are still six years behind where we are ... it's still going to be a long time before they catch up with where New Zealand's at."

Green Party co-leader Russel Norman got into a scuffle with Xi's security staff after he staged a protest with a Tibetan flag during his 2010 visit.

English said: "I think there's more interest in what China is doing next and how China is evolving and developing than [protests and human rights issues]."