Trade prospects between NZ and China in terms of red wine exports were potentially huge

Hawke's Bay Today Deputy Editor Grant Harding

China Southern Airlines' first direct service into Auckland from the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou landed last Saturday.

The three-flights-a-week service will be promoted for business and leisure, and China Southern, who are China's largest airline, have partnered with Tourism New Zealand to market the route.

The importance of the occasion demanded the presence of Prime Minister John Key, whose Government is being asked by business leaders to put money into a public-private partnership to create a New Zealand Inc identity in China and bolster our companies' performance in the complex market.

China, and our free trade agreement with it, is a hot topic once again with some saying National have dragged their feet on Labour's coup.

The sheer scale of the country and its growth is mind boggling.

China's economic size is second only to the United States and rapidly gaining ground - and they are putting the global crisis behind them.

It is projected that they will have a 700 million middle class by 2020, and more than 200 cities of above one million people by 2025.

While China Southern Airlines' entry into New Zealand is estimated to bring an extra 25,000 visitors per year and put $75 million into the economy, the fact that 50 million Chinese travel offshore annually, a figure expected to double in the next five years, shows the importance of impressing this segment of tourists.

In the year ending January 2011, more than 127,000 Chinese came to New Zealand, making it our fourth biggest market.

Impressing the Chinese in business is another matter, but there would appear to be opportunities for Hawke's Bay and its many entrepreneurs.

The recent sale of Paritua Vineyard to New Zealand-based Chinese interests was described as "unquestionably positive" for the Bay's wine industry by Hawke's Bay Winegrowers vice-chairman Xan Harding.

Mr Harding said trade prospects between Hawke's Bay and China in terms of red wine exports were potentially huge.

But there are adaptations to be made for success in China.

For example, Matariki winery owner John O'Connor, whose company's biggest export market is China, recently said their top reds were stopped with corks rather than screw caps to meet the locals' desire for the authentic "Bordeaux" experience.

China is New Zealand's fastest growing major market, but there is much work to do to maximise its potential - by the Government, business and the public - as highlighted in superb recent articles in The New Zealand Herald.

Pulling away from China would not appear to be a sensible option.

On the contrary, pressure for New Zealand to welcome and get in on the act of a country of 1.338 billion people, 115 billionaires, 879 million cellphone users, 457 million netizens and 100 million vehicles is intensifying.