New Zealand's ambassador to China, Tony Browne.
BEIJING - New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) is to invest $12 million in China to boost trade and promote its businesses.
Rod MacKenzie, group managing director of North Asia with NZTE, said the investment would be used to develop a New Zealand concept centre in
Shanghai.
The centre would chiefly provide information on New Zealand, such as travel, fashion, food and lifestyles.
Meanwhile, New Zealand plans to open five new business offices in China over the next four years.
NZTE believes New Zealand should have a high profile presence at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, said MacKenzie.
Locations of the five offices were yet to be decided, but NZTE said that it had researched markets and trade opportunities in Wuhan, Dalian, Shenzhen, Qingdao and Chengdu.
New Zealand would seek new export opportunities in China in fields such as food, beverage, wood and agricultural technologies.
Bilateral trade topped US$5 billion in 2006, said MacKenzie.
New Zealand's exports to China include dairy products, eggs, honey, wood, wood pulp, and seafood while imports from China are chiefly electronics, furniture, toys, steel products and textiles.
Tony Browne, New Zealand Ambassador to China, said the China-New Zealand Free Trade Zone Agreement was under discussion with the 13th round of negotiations concluded and the 14th round to be held soon in Beijing.
But he was reluctant to comment on the details of the negotiations.
"It is a very detailed, very complicated, very elaborate negotiation. It's China's first negotiation with a developed country and it is the most important bilateral negotiation that New Zealand is dealing with," Browne said.
