Larry Williams: We need Chinese

Shanghai skyline. Photo / Thinkstock

Opinion

Shanghai is a city on speed.

It's been a while since I was last in Shanghai and the transformation has been stunning. The skyscrapers are taller. The architecture wondrous. Think Dubai. Shops and big-brand names have swamped the city. Opulence in the extreme. This is a seriously rich city. Well, for some, anyway.

There is outrageous wealth. Lamborghinis and Ferraris mix it up with Chinese pedalling their rickshaws loaded up with junk and trying to scrape out a living.

The numbers in terms of people with wealth are staggering. The city has 370,000 millionaires and 90 US-dollar billionaires. Property, manufacturing and investments are the top three sources of wealth for Shanghai's billionaires. Interestingly, Shanghai is attractive for women entrepreneurs; 23 per cent of the richest 82 are female.

However, this is a city of great contrasts. Most of the action is not in the upmarket trendy areas but on struggle street, where it's like stepping back in time. Either way, China is a big deal for New Zealand. Since the free-trade agreement, China has become our biggest export market. The growth in trade has been phenomenal - in the first quarter, exports jumped 32 per cent. Our future could depend on China, but only if we grasp it.

The size of the market is huge. There are 1.3 billion people, hundreds of millions entering the middle class. It's an opportunity we need to grab in terms of doing business in China but also China doing business in New Zealand.

Here's the thing: we need China, it doesn't need us.

The world is courting China for investment. China's outbound direct investment in the non-financial sector surged to US$77 billion last year, up 27 per cent year-on-year. China is investing heavily in firms in the US and Europe. We need to go after this China cash too. The worry is that NZ Inc will lose China. Many Kiwis just don't trust the Chinese. Period.

Xenophobia over the Chinese buying a few farms has not gone unnoticed and could hurt us. It certainly won't help us get the investment that we desperately need. Again - we need China, they don't need us.

• Larry Williams this month did his Newstalk ZB drive show live from China for a week.