Business leaders deliver mixed verdict on Luxon’s China visit

Business leaders have delivered a mixed verdict on Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's three-day trip to China in terms of its immediate impact of trade, tourism and education.

A range of business agreements as well as 11 new government-to-government deals were signed on Luxon's first official visit to China.

Lisa Li, managing director of China Travel Service New Zealand, said the twin tweaks to immigration settings should be a shot in the arm for New Zealand tourism and business.

She said replacing transit visas with an electronic travel authority for Chinese nationals would bring additional tourism traffic to New Zealand.

"We understand that passengers who visit South America are either businesspeople or high-net-worth individuals," Li said. "They are very valuable potential customers for us."

Luxon delivered a presentation in a live-stream with Chinese travel agency Ctrip on 18 June, a popular mid-year shopping date in China.

His appearance on the platform would also attract people to New Zealand, Li said.

She applauded Tourism New Zealand's 100% Pure New Zealand campaign event in Beijing, as well as the deals reached by the two countries' airlines.

The prime minister' visit was a high-profile event for the community, Li said.

"Once you turn on your mobile phone ... the [many] posts that have been shared will come to your eyes," she said. "You don't have to search for it. It just keeps coming."

Cosmetics company Global Empowerment NZ was one of several companies to have signed an agreement with businesses in China during the visit, inking a deal to facilitate greater cooperation between its skincare brand, BeauEver, and a Chinese partner.

Luxon also announced a new government certification scheme that cleared the way for Kiwi-made cosmetics to be sold on Chinese shelves.

Consumers in China can currently only purchase New Zealand cosmetic products via online channels that don't require regulatory animal testing.

Tera Zhou, marketing manager of Global Empowerment NZ, said Luxon's visit would benefit trade, tourism and education as well as enhance "friendship" between the two countries.

"The prime minister's announcement of replacing animal testing with new technology is a great help for the New Zealand beauty industry to enter the Chinese market," Zhou said.

"BeauEver has long insisted on no animal testing, so it has ... been conducting business through cross-border e-commerce," Zhou said.

"After the implementation of this new ... [certification] method, it will be a great help to our business in China."

Luxon's whirlwind visit also resulted in agreements between New Zealand education providers and Chinese universities and schools.

The visit could help build political rapport and enhance bilateral relations, which could be beneficial to New Zealand's education industry, licensed immigration advisor Peter Luo said.

However, wooing Chinese education officials and institutions wasn't the solution, he said.

"There is a Chinese saying that 'a blacksmith must be strong'," Luo said. "Tertiary education in New Zealand should improve the quality of education."

Luo said the Chinese government had invested a lot into education and top Chinese universities were far ahead of these in New Zealand academically.

"Chinese parents value this very much. [New Zealand universities'] ranking is worse than their Chinese [counterparts]. Why should I send my child to study here?" Luo said.

"If we don't invest in tertiary education but rely on exports of our agricultural products ... the gap between us and ... other developed countries and Australia will become larger and larger."

Robert MacCulloch, an economics professor at the University of Auckland, said he did not think Luxon's trip would yield a lot of economic benefits.

"China has for a long time been the biggest buyer for our agricultural products and I don't think there's anything particularly new in that," he said.

"I think it's more on the political side that probably the visit is meant to have some significance.

"It was just a traditional trade trip," he said. "For 50 years, Kiwi prime ministers [have been] trying to flog our lamb off overseas."

MacCulloch also questioned New Zealand's "trade equilibrium with China".

"The deal is that we sell them unlimited amounts of dairy powder agriculture, and we import all of their IT and tech at sort of relatively low prices into this country, which almost guarantees that we'll never have serious industries in that space," he said.

The New Zealand Customs Service and the General Administration of China Customs have also agreed on a new pilot to trial speedier border clearance for airfreighted fresh foods.