Mayor to lead business delegation to China

Mayor Lianne Dalziel will lead a business delegation to China next week to foster investment in Christchurch’s business and education sectors.

On route to China, the Mayor will visit Japan as part of an official New Zealand delegation led by Minister Brownlee to attend the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai.

“It's a great honour to be part of this international conference where I will be speaking on three separate occasions about our experience post-earthquakes, as well as sharing lessons learned from Christchurch’s rebuild and recovery.”

The 35-person Mayoral delegation to China includes representatives from the education, tourism and business sector with a view to strengthening ongoing, and developing, relations with Chinese partners. New Zealand has a goal of achieving greater efficiency and effectiveness across all government agencies that work in and with China, and the Mayor says this trip could help successful Christchurch business develop and grow.

“In China a Mayor is held in very high regard, which means I can open doors for this delegation, giving them access to officials and business leaders they may not normally have,” she says.

“Developing these relationships for Canterbury businesses is vital at a time when our city’s rebuild is gaining momentum and this gives us the opportunity to reiterate that Christchurch is open for business.”

Councillor Jimmy Chen will be part of the delegation for the first part of the trip, focusing on education and Sister Cityrelations. Councillor Jamie Gough helped organise the delegation to China and will join the team in the last week, which has a business orientation along with an Antarctic focus.

Sam Lu, CEO Taizi Liquor, will also be travelling as part of the delegation and says this is a great opportunity for his business.

“We are grateful to be able to spread a premium product among high level contacts in China through our Mayor’s strong influence in the Mainland.”

Each delegate will pay for their own travel costs to China and they will also pay an administration fee of $500. This fee will cover the cost of travel for an official interpreter and will offset the travel costs for elected members. Christchurch International Airport Limited (CIAL) is covering the cost of the Mayor’s international airfares. The remaining $17,000 cost will be met by Council.

Itinerary:

14-15 March

Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, Sendai, Japan

16-21 March

Focus on education and Sister City (Wuhan) relations, Chengdu, China

22-26 March

Focus on 30th anniversary of Sister City (Gansu) relations and education, Lanzhou, wider Gansu province

27-3 April

Focus on business and tourism – Beijing

Meetings in support of the delegation in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou

ends

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