More Chinese investment in New Zealand farms and infrastructure will be targeted by the Government.
Prime Minister John Key today released a strategy to double trade with the Asian super power by 2015, saying it is critical for the country’s financial wellbeing.
Opening Our Doors to China has taken over a year to develop and comes as public anger grows over farm land sales to foreigners, particularly the Crafar farms bought by a Chinese company.
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The idea of Chinese investors taking over the Crafar farms has not sat well with many and the Green Party says the farms were sacrificed for the sake of a stronger relationship with China.
But Key is eager to develop the relationship with Beijing, believing New Zealand can be prosperous on the back of “probably the fastest growing economy in the world”.
“They’re our second largest market…by 2020 they’re likely to be the largest economy in the world,” said Key.
Remarkable benefits
The New Zealand – China strategy is designed to double two-way trade with the People’s Republic to $20 billions by 2015. It aims to increase the number of Chinese students in NZ, assist NZ food, beverage and agribusiness exporters and target Chinese investment in infrastructure and farmland.
The strategy would mean more sales like the Crafar farms which the Greens say was approved to facilitate the broader strategy of the China/New Zealand trade and other arrangements.
Co-leader Russel Norman accepts the relationship is important but is quick to point out New Zealanders can’t buy land in China.
Key says the long term benefits are remarkable and he believes the Government has got the balance around ownership “about right”.
Key said the strategy sets out “ambitious” medium term goals and provides a clear direction for a co-ordinated Government effort over a five year period.
It has a strong trade focus but also looks at building political and diplomatic ties through a set of five goals that specify action such as developing more high-quality science and technology collaborations.
Two-way trade with China was up 22% last year.
Investment encouraged
The Government also says in the strategy that Chinese investment in New Zealand is tiny compared to Australia and needs to grow “to levels that reflect the growing commercial relationship with China,” for continued engagement with the world’s fastest-growing superpower.
Investment into China by New Zealand firms is also minuscule, at $541 million, compared with $36 billion of Australian investments in China, partly because of New Zealand’s wider track record of exporting commodities for others to process rather than investing in its own high-value production.
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