Hard work in China reaps rewards

Chester Borrows PHOTO/FILE

A kiwi walks into a shop and looks around for what it is he or she wants to buy. The Kiwi customer finds it and goes up to the counter with the article and pays the price on the tag.

New Zealanders do so without hesitation because they have made the decision to purchase and know they have the money to pay the listed price. There is no debate. Yet in many cultures, a customer never pays the listed price and is expected to haggle with the shopkeeper. If the customer asks what price the seller wants for the item off the shelf, he isn't told, but is questioned by the shopkeeper about how much the customer is prepared to pay for the item.

In many countries the shopkeeper may decide not to sell even without any discussion. Kiwis on holidays find all this frustrating a lot of the time and a challenge on others. Doing business in one country is not the same as doing it in another.

The Prime Minister, Food Safety Minister and Minister for Trade headed to China again this week. I say "again" because trips to China have become regular news events in the last five years or so, because of the importance of this growing area for trade.

China has recently become our biggest trade partner, even surpassing Australia. Our exports to China grew 45 per cent last year and are still climbing, at almost $7 billion a year. We saw an item on TV news this week informing us that two litres of New Zealand milk in China can sell for up to NZ$23. That is what we call "value added".

The traditional markets of North America and Europe are not interested to the same degree, because their economies are struggling and at this time they wish to protect their own agri-businesses.

Now we get to a stage in New Zealand-Chinese relations that our cabinet ministers are meeting for the 10th or 15th times, so they are well on the road to building relationships in which a lot can be done. The Chinese say that our trade agreement is not only the first with a Western country and a good trade agreement, but it is the best model for doing business with China.

In the 15th century the Chinese built huge ships five times the size of European vessels of the same century and sailed forth with thousands of their people aboard. When they landed, they planted people while the Europeans planted flags. That has meant that in many places around the Pacific we deal with Chinese people in business.

Arriving in Asian countries with bags of widgets to sell won't work. It is the traditional way Kiwis do business and makes us an endearing nation to the Europeans, but that is not where the money is. Trying to trade with these traditional markets will not give us the returns that will keep us or our children in the manner to which we have become accustomed. We must do business with parts of Asia where we are close, trusted, liked, and find people with money in their pockets wanting to buy high quality, high protein food. In an electorate built on the back of exporting primary produce, this means everything to us. The work of our ministers in Asia is money in the bank, and so the pockets of people in Castlecliff and Aramoho, Hawera, Eltham and Putiki. For everyone else, around the electorate and around the country, there is a direct line from trade visits, and the trade revenue they promote, to the provision of health, welfare and education services in our communities. The importance of these visits should never be underestimated.