China honours veteran NZ trader

8 September, 2006

China honours veteran NZ trader

Veteran New Zealand China trader Victor Percival, of Onehunga, will be honoured by the Chinese Government at special ceremonies in Guangzhou next month to celebrate the staging of the 100th Canton Trade Fair.

Mr Percival, 77, is believed by Chinese authorities to be the only international trader still involved in China trade to have attended the Fair in its first year as a centre for the development of export and import business.

The Canton fair is staged twice a year, in the northern spring and autumn. Mr Percival attended the Autumn fair in 1957 which was the second held by the Chinese Government.

An invitation from the China Foreign Trade Centre for him to “witness this historic milestone” as its guest says Chinese state leaders will be invited to the celebrations. Awards will be made to individuals and business leaders for their contributions to the fair.

Mr Percival, who has travelled widely throughout China over the past 50 years as a trader and consultant, will be accompanied to the fair by a combined delegation from the China Trade Association (CTA) and Auckland Regional Chamber of Commerce.

A life member and former President of the CTA, he said today that the delegation would include representatives of more than 15 New Zealand companies and be led by the president of the association, Mr Stuart Ferguson.

Mr Percival was named by the Chinese Government in an official directory in 1996 along with two other New Zealanders, Rewi Alley and Kathleen Hall, among 500 Special Friends of China in the 20th century. International statesmen on the list included such figures as American President Richard Nixon, French President Charles de Gaulle and Dr Henry Kissinger.a former U.S. Secretary of State.

He is currently working on a biography of his China trade and adventures – “Mr Victor – China Trader”.

ENDS

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