Fonterra's offices in Beijing have a room with walls made of red glass where the business is done.

Prime Minister John Key's visit to China will include a formal dinner with China's President Xi Jinping.

John Key has pulled out of a Beijing meet-and-greet session for NZ dairy companies and their local business partners after a dinner invite from the Chinese President.

Fonterra's boss says Govt ministers mustn't be put off meeting officials in China in the wake of the controversy over Judith Collins' visit with Oravida.

Much of the recent focus on sending milk to China has been on Justice Minister Judith Collins.

Dairy pervades the economy and the cultural landscape - our obsession with flat whites, free milk in schools and even our political scandals, as witnessed last week.

When Prime Minister John Key heads off to China tonight, it will be as much about talking to China's mothers as talking to its leaders.

Fonterra said it had accepted charges laid against it by the Ministry for Primary Industries over events that led to last year's market recall of whey protein concentrate.

About 70 per cent of businesses surveyed by ASB Bank expect the New Zealand dollar to reach parity with the Aussie dollar over the coming year.

A string of National Party high-flyers have been entertained by the milk exporter at the centre of a conflict of interest row involving Justice Minister Judith Collins

Parts of the Waikato are as dry or drier than during last year's severe drought.

Fonterra has extended sales of its infant formula brand to two more major Chinese cities as it pushes to secure a share of the world's fastest growing baby milk market.

In Canterbury, the cockies are only half joking when they say they're into hydroponics. For dairy farmers, once they have the land it's just a matter of adding water, the right feed, nutrients and cows and the result is milk. Lots of it.

NZ's booming infant formula industry fears Chinese regulatory changes could block smaller operators from doing business in the world's most lucrative and fastest-growing baby milk market.

Six dead babies - that's what it took to create a whole new market segment for New Zealand's dairy industry.

Justice Minister Judith Collins said she told milk product company Oravida that it could not use her photograph or name to endorse its products prior to visiting it in China.

New Zealand commodity prices rose to a record in February, as cheese prices surged to a six-year high.

New Zealand's terms of trade rose to a 40-year high for the second straight quarter in the final three months of 2013 as import prices fell.

Surging dairy exports to China have pushed the annual trade balance into surplus for the first time in nearly two years.

New Zealand posted its third straight trade surplus in January, as sales of dairy products drove record exports to China.

Fonterra has raised its forecast payout to farmers to $8.65 per kilogram of milk solids as global demand for milk powders remains strong.

NZX-listed alternative dairy company A2 Corporation is gearing up to expand its fresh milk business to the United States.

Infant formula exporters are on edge before an audit of local manufacturing facilities by Chinese officials next month.

Dairy product prices recorded their biggest drop since early November in the latest global auction, with the volume sold falling to an eight-month low.

A big block of dairy land owned by Solid Energy is being put up for sale in Eastern Southland, PGG Wrightson Real Estate said.