NZ trade minister heads delegation to China

WELLINGTON - New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser left for China Saturday to head a 17-strong business delegation and prepared for talks with Chinese government officials.

Groser will travel to Beijing, where he would meet with Chinese counterpart Commerce Minister Chen Deming, address the China Center for International Economic Exchanges and give a speech on international trade and the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership at the Beijing University of International Business and Economics.

Groser would go on to Shanghai to attend the launches of a New Zealand infant formula maker and a sheep and dairy company, and attend a promotion of New Zealand seafood and wine-two priority sectors for growth identified in the New Zealand government's China Strategy, said a statement from his office.

On his final stop in the southwest municipality of Chongqing, Groser's delegation would attend a business networking event and a banquet hosted by Chongqing Mayor Huang Qifan.

The delegation would comprise mainly China-based New Zealand company representatives, who were mostly Mandarin speakers.

"This shows how New Zealand companies are becoming savvier and better prepared in their approach to China," Groser said in the statement.

The companies represented were from a wide range of sectors, from tourism to clean-tech reflecting New Zealand's growing diversity of business interests in China, he said.