Christopher Luxon begins China mission with a focus on meat, dairy ... and skincare

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon begins the first day of his whistle-stop China trade mission today in Shanghai.

He touched down in Shanghai in the early hours of Wednesday morning, New Zealand time.

The trip takes place against a turbulent geopolitical backdrop, but chatting to the Chinese Government about this will have to wait until the second half of the trip – the first part is all about trade, with Luxon using his time on the ground in Shanghai today to promote New Zealand exports as diverse as meat and skincare.

He is set to begin the morning with a visit to CTrip, a tourism company. He’ll visit the Chinese head office and meet CEO Jane Sun. Before the trade mission, Luxon told the Herald one of his goals was to raise awareness of the New Zealand tourism offering in the Chinese market.

“I want to lift and make sure we’ve got share of mind and that will translate into more trade,” Luxon said.

“What I’m wanting to do is reinvigorate the awareness of New Zealand within domestic China.”

Two-way trade with China was worth $39 billion in the year to March 2025, making China New Zealand’s largest trading partner. More than a fifth of New Zealand’s goods and services exports go to the country. Dairy, wood and travel are the top exports.

Later in the day, Luxon will attend a business promotion activation hosted by China Eastern Airlines and Auckland Airport, whose chief executive Carrie Hurihanganui is among the business delegation accompanying the PM.

The Sunday before he departed for China, Luxon and Tourism Minister Louise Upston, who is accompanying him on the trip, announced Chinese tourists with an Australian visa will be able to travel to New Zealand under a visa waiver pilot scheme.

Luxon will also attend a cosmetics event hosted by Antipodes, Health Basics, Ecostore, Linden Leaves and Trilogy. Some skincare products have had difficulty getting into China because of a Chinese regulatory barrier. This barrier is expected to be lifted, allowing the full resumption of trade.

There is also a primary industries focus, with trade showcases hosted by Fonterra and the Meat Industry Association.

Luxon left Auckland on Tuesday morning and was expected to arrive in Shanghai in the early hours of Wednesday morning (NZT). Before the delegation’s departure, Ethnic Communities Minister Mark Mitchell alluded to the fact these trade missions do not always run to plan thanks to the frequent breakdowns of the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s Boeing 757s.

Mitchell paid tribute to the Air Force personnel who keep the planes running.

The business delegation is led by Air New Zealand chairwoman Dame Therese Walsh. Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran is also among the delegation. The delegation also includes Meat Industry Association chairman Nathan Guy (a former National MP and minister), Fonterra chief executive Miles Hurrell and Zespri chairman Nathan Flowerday. Representing the education sector is Victoria University Vice-Chancellor Nic Smith.

Luxon is accompanied by a business delegation and the winners of the Te Matatini national kapa haka championship, Kapa Haka o Ngāti Whakaue.

Luxon will spend two days in Shanghai before leaving for Beijing. He is scheduled to meet President Xi Jinping early in the afternoon on Friday (NZT).

It will be the first face-to-face meeting with Xi since China sent a strike force into the Tasman Sea without warning, alarming New Zealand and Australia.

Before the trip, Luxon would not say whether he would raise this with Xi.

“I’ve been very consistent from day one. [It’s] a continuation of what happened under previous administrations, which is that we have an independent foreign policy. We act in our national interest.

“We have huge areas of co-operation that can advance the wealth of both countries, but we also have to acknowledge that we have differences, and where we have those, my message has been very clear to ... President Xi ... we raise those consistently, predictably, publicly, privately,” Luxon said.