Food and other products from New Zealand are on display at the food and agricultural products exhibition area of the 7th China International Import Expo held in Shanghai on November 9, 2024. Photo: VCG

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is making an official visit to China from Tuesday to Friday, leading a delegation of business leaders, according to media reports. In a post on X on Wednesday, Luxon underscored the substantial "room for growth" in trade with China, New Zealand's largest trading partner.

New Zealand businesses expressed unwavering confidence in China's economic prospects, highlighting the abundant opportunities presented by the Chinese market. They eagerly anticipate that this visit will further strengthen business links and create more collaborative opportunities between the two nations.

Luxon's ongoing official visit is at the invitation of Premier of the State Council Li Qiang, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

On Wednesday morning, in a post on X, Luxon shared a video set against the backdrop of Shanghai's Lujiazui Area. In the post, he wrote, "China is our largest trading partner and a key part of our economic story. But there is room for growth and that's what we'll be exploring here."

His social media account on X also showed that he visited the headquarters of Chinese online travel agency Trip.com in Shanghai for a promotional event of New Zealand tourism resources on Wednesday.

He noted in the post that "more tourism means more spending at local businesses, stronger economic growth, and more jobs and higher wages for Kiwis working hard to get ahead."

Tourism New Zealand and Trip.com on Wednesday jointly signed a memorandum of understanding for strategic cooperation spanning 2025 to 2027, marking a new phase in China-New Zealand tourism collaboration, Trip.com said in a statement sent to the Global Times. 
 
Luxon brought a team of officials and business leaders, including a 28-strong business delegation. The business delegation is chaired by Therese Walsh, chair of Air New Zealand and ASB Bank. Among the companies represented are Fonterra, Zespri, A2 Milk, and Silver Fern Farms, according to New Zealand media outlet RNZ.

New Zealand's business sector is optimistic about opportunities in the Chinese market and looks forward to strengthening business ties with China through the visit.

"We expect that New Zealand Prime Minister Luxon's visit will help to create further opportunities for businesses in both countries," Miles Hurrell, Fonterra CEO, said in a statement sent to the Global Times on Wednesday.

Hurrell said that New Zealand dairy exports to China are tariff-free and China's commitment to supporting foreign investment in China has further strengthened the company's confidence in China's future development.

This visit by Luxon holds significant importance for deepening China-New Zealand economic and trade cooperation, said Mahara Inglis, CEO of New Zealand health technology company MitoQ.

"We have directly benefited from the trade facilitation measures under the upgraded bilateral free trade agreement. We look forward to further progress in joint R&D and market access for the health industry between our two countries," Inglis said in a written response to the Global Times.

Inglis said that the continued advancement of China's "Healthy China" strategy is driving sustained market expansion for health supplement products, presenting favorable opportunities for its development in the Chinese market.

"We're committed to providing natural nutrition and health to consumers in China, where we provided more than 1.5 billion pieces of fruit last season. This season we are on track to grow our volume by more than 8 percent," kiwifruit brand Zespri's Chairman Nathan Flowerday told the Global Times on Wednesday.
 
Jack Hu, CEO of New Zealand home textile brand Pacific Alpacas, told the Global Times that China not only holds vast consumer potential but also represents a key growth engine for natural fibers and premium sustainable lifestyles on a global scale. 

As a representative of New Zealand's business community, Pacific Alpacas remains committed to expanding its presence in the Chinese market, Hu said.

"More than 20 percent of our exports go to China and there is room for growth, so I'm taking a delegation of senior business leaders with me to tap into it. It's all part of our plan to grow our economy -- creating more jobs, lifting wages, and putting more money in your back pocket," Luxon wrote in a post on X on Tuesday.

In an X post on June 13, Luxon emphasized that his visit will focus on growing trade, which was worth more than NZ$38 billion ($23 billion) last year, as well as strengthening education and tourism links, and maximizing opportunities for New Zealand businesses.
 
In 2024, trade between China and New Zealand reached NZ$38.26 billion, with exports to China accounting for 20.6 percent of New Zealand's total exports and 25 percent of its total goods exports, supporting more than 100,000 jobs. China remained a key market for several major sectors - absorbing 31 percent of New Zealand's dairy exports, 61 percent of its timber, and 24 percent of its meat, according to official data. 

Economic and trade relations have always been crucial boosters for the development of bilateral ties of China and New Zealand, Chen Hong, director of the Australian Studies Center at East China Normal University, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

New Zealand's agricultural and pastoral products, tourism, and international education serve as its key export pillars. These areas precisely align with the enormous market demand generated by China's economic takeoff, fully demonstrating the mutually beneficial and win-win characteristics of economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, Chen said.