Previously, officials took the view that Chinese investors knew best when it came to investing their capital into New Zealand ventures or buying hard assets.
But there is a growing recognition that New Zealand has strategic capability in areas like renewable energy which can be packaged alongside other assets like forestry plantations and leveraged into a viable investment proposition.
This is already being explored in the central North Island.
The attraction from a Chinese investor's stance is the ability to outsource the energy component of processing wood to a partner who can provide renewable energy in substitution for the coal-fired polluting energy that would otherwise be used in China.
There is plenty of other new thinking occurring.
The Herald's recent superdiversity series scoped the impact of the rapidly changing ethnicities in New Zealand - especially Auckland. Author Mai Chen - who has set up a Super Diversity Centre for Law, Policy and Business within Chen Palmer's offices - has an interesting take.
At yesterday's PwC Herald Talks, Chen suggested companies could test products designed for Asian markets within Auckland itself rather than having to first go in market.
But when Beijing - or appositely, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party - has just launched its 13th five-year plan it also makes sense to take into account the areas China will prioritise.
The move to a two-child policy - after 37 years of the one-child policy - has grabbed headlines here.
It was quickly interpreted as having the potential to provide a fillip to New Zealand's dairy industry which has been in the doldrums since China built up huge stockpiles of milk powder. This resulted in buyers putting their order books away and a collapse of the international milk powder price.
The notion that there would be a baby boom in China even moved the New Zealand dollar - marginally - on the back of predictions that China would be going to the market for a lot more infant formula from New Zealand.
The Chinese Government expects about 90 million couples to be eligible to expand their families. But there is also doubt as to how whether great numbers of parents -- who come from one-child families themselves - will be quick to embrace having more than one child when they have not experienced that themselves.
It's an interesting conundrum.
China's changing demographics are the real driver behind the desire to produce more babies. There are more than 212 million Chinese who are above 60 and few shoulders to bear the burden of care for the elderly.
From a New Zealand perspective the stated aim to double China's 2010 GDP and per-capita income by 2020 is the most promising target.
Urbanisation will continue apace - particularly in Western China.
The shift to a consumption driven economy will continue.
The transition from China being the "world's factory" and a massive construction site, to one dominated by the service sector will speed up.
Already the tourism potential is beyond New Zealand's current ability to service it. Education remains a winner.
But New Zealand companies that track the trends should expand their horizons to burgeoning areas like healthcare provision and elderly care; environmental industries, financial services like insurance and innovative ventures.
The dairy story will stay a major - but it's by no means the only story when it comes to leveraging China's development.
