Agritech trade mission to Southern China

Trade Negotiations Minister Jim Sutton is to lead an agritech trade mission to Southern China next month.

Mr Sutton said today that agriculture was China's largest sector, with about 350 million people working in agricultural production.

"China's entry into the WTO means the agricultural sector will face intensified competition, requiring increases in productivity and quality of products and processes. As well, there is a growing demand for protein from an increasingly affluent population."

Mr Sutton said this mission would be the fourth he had made to China since becoming Trade Negotiations Minister in December 1999.

"Two-way trade between New Zealand and China continues to grow strongly, with exports of goods reaching $1.4 billion for the year ending 30 June 2002 and imports from China reaching almost $2.34 billion for the same period. This makes China our 4th largest trading partner. With China's accession to the WTO last November and the consequent reduction in a wide range of tariffs, I believe there are going to be many opportunities in the China market for our exporters of goods and services."

Mr Sutton said there had been strong interest in New Zealand agritech products and expertise from all levels of government and the business community during previous missions to Western and Northern China.

This had prompted next month's agritech trade mission to South West China, visiting Guiyang (Guizhou Province), Guilin (Guangxi Province), and Kunming (Yunnan Province) between 4 and 14 December 2002, plus a possible extension to Southern Sichuan Province if there was sufficient interest.

Interested business people should contact Jim Tait at Trade NZ (04 496 6502 or mailto:Jim.Tait@tradenz.govt.nz) to join the mission.

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