To many China observers – including representatives of major New Zealand companies doing trade with China – recent visa fee hikes and other measures are sending a signal that Chinese visitors are not welcome.
The measures include an increase in the visa fee to $341, the removal of the ability for documents to be submitted in Mandarin instead requiring official certification in English, slower processing times of three weeks or more, plus the introduction of the $100 tourism levy from October (which also applies to other markets).
The more caustic observers say these measures could be construed as non-tariff trade barriers – something that is at the forefront of our trade negotiators’ minds when dealing with other countries.
China’s visitor arrivals have already declined significantly to 55% of the (pre-Covid) June 2019, tally. But Singapore’s decision to waive visa requirements for visitors from China, for up to 30 days, may have contributed to Singapore’s early success in attracting Chinese tourists, now at about 96% of their 2019 levels.
Arguably, these barriers could be costing New Zealand some $500 million annually in forgone tourism revenue.
The New Zealand Business Roundtable in China (NZBRiC) has taken its concerns to Trade Minister Todd McLay, who has passed them on to Immigration Minister Erica Stanford.
The NZBRiC – which represents our major New Zealand companies in China – is also concerned at the withdrawal of Government support for a New Zealand national pavilion at the November China International Export Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai.
New Zealand had been directly invited by Premier Li Qiang, to be a country of honour at CIIE 2024 during his June visit to New Zealand. McClay will lead a business delegation to what will be the 7th CIIE event. It’s a big deal. The expo is hosted by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce whose minister, Wang Wentao, accompanied Li to New Zealand.
The Premier is expected to attend and New Zealand’s key exporters to China will all have stands as they have in prior years. The organising committee confirms that more than 70 countries and participating organisations have confirmed their attendance.
It is thought the cost of constructing and hosting a national pavilion could have run out at $500,000 or so, which is small beer given the value of the China market to New Zealand. The counter view is that such expenditure could be applied more efficiently in growing trade.
NZBriC chairman Mark Anderton told the Herald the Prime Minister has said New Zealand is open for business, “however for China we have made it much harder to get through the door”.
“People-to-people exchange is critical in business and NZBRiC has been advocating to review the recent visa requirement changes to support the trade goals of Government and business.”
NZBric is seeking a review of visa policies to foster the sustainable growth in visitor numbers from China. The organisation believes these additional barriers are impacting people-to-people and trade flows between the two nations.
The great irony is that during a meeting with New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, the visiting Chinese Premier said China would include New Zealand in the list of countries eligible for unilateral visa exemptions and he hoped New Zealand would provide more conveniences for Chinese citizens visiting this country.
There are further concerns that if the Prime Minister’s commitment to double the value of New Zealand’s exports over the next 10 years is to be achieved, a major uplift in the services trade is necessary.
What the metrics show:
China is New Zealand’s third-largest market by arrivals.
Tourism New Zealand’s market insights show that in 2019, it was our second-largest international visitor market and one of the most valuable in terms of holiday visitor spend. The market is recovering after the opening of the China international border in January 2023, with 219,000 visitors from China arriving between April 2023 and April 2024, 143,000 of them being holiday visitors. Chinese visitors spent $1.1 billion in New Zealand, with $872 million spent by holidaymakers. The average spend per trip was $5591, rising to $6729 for holiday visitors.
China has now been trumped by the United States as New Zealand’s second-largest market by arrivals. Some 379,000 American visitors arrived between April 2023 and April 2024, an increase of 43% on the previous year. Of those arrivals, 250,000 (66%) were holiday visitors, who spent $1.1b – an average of $5181 per person.
Some 1.3 million visitors from our largest market, Australia, arrived between April 2023 and April 2024 (44% of all arrivals), with 517,000 of these being holiday visitors (40% of all visitors). Australian holiday visitors spent $1.8b – an average of $3790 per person. Airline connectivity is 86% recovered since 2019.
These metrics underline that putting Chinese tourists on a more equitable basis could provide a boost of at least $500m annually to the New Zealand economy if the tourism traffic is restored to previous heights.
That would be a huge boost to domestic tourism operators, the domestic airline business, accommodation providers and more.
