Why are the Chinese interested in New Zealand?

New Zealand is renowned in China, and the rest of the world, for being clean and green. The Chinese recognise that there are opportunities to learn from New Zealand’s approach to sustainable development. There is increasing awareness in China of New Zealand’s expertise in sustainable development, eco-friendly building design, earthquake proofing and cutting-edge urban planning. The need for such expertise is increasingly urgent. Until a quarter century ago, private residential property did not exist in China. In 2007, China added 5.5 million new housing units, four times what the United States built and more than one-quarter of all new housing stock in the world. Rapid urbanisation and development at breakneck speed has necessitated the exploration of more sustainable development strategies.

There is also a degree of fondness with New Zealand. The signing of the China-NZ FTA in April 2008 represents “the fourth first” in a series of milestone agreements between New Zealand and China in the trade and economic area. Many Chinese businesspeople acknowledge the depth of the relationship between the 2 countries. The other “firsts” in the relationship:
• New Zealand was the first Western country to conclude a bilateral agreement with China on its accession to the World Trade Organisation, in August 1997.
• New Zealand was the first developed economy to recognise China’s status as a market economy in April 2004.
• New Zealand was the first developed country to enter into FTA negotiations with China, announced in November 2004.

After years of accumulating substantial trade surpluses with her trading partners, China has foreign reserves of around US$2 trillion today. In spite of recent turmoil in financial markets and subsequent economic recession, many Chinese investors continue to pursue investment and development opportunities. Warren Buffett’s simple philosophy, be fearful when others are greedy, be greedy when others are fearful; is well understood by more sophisticated Chinese investors.

Tags: auckland, china, foreign reserves, free trade agreement, international sustainable cities forum, investment, new zealand, sustainable development