China

Alexander Gillespie, University of Waikato With tension escalating between China and members of the Five Eyes security alliance, most recently over a Chinese tweet that used a doctored image to attack Australia, New Zealand is arguably in a prime position to broker a kind of truce. Someone needs to take the initiative. Right now, things are deteriorating, as the trade …

New Zealand’s relationship with China will continue to be one of the most important and far-reaching while Covid-19 accelerates the relative decline of United States as the world’s economic engine, said a leading bank executive. Antonia Watson, chief executive of ANZ Bank New Zealand, told delegates at the 2020 China Business Summit in Auckland that “we are thankful China’s economy …

The sixth annual China Business Summit 2020, organised by NZ INC. and Auckland Business Chamber, attracted record attendance and plenty of high spirits in the Cordis Hotel’s ballroom. Maybe, it was because the summit was the first major conference since the Covid-19 lockdown and the business leaders were excited to get out and network. But more importantly the 320 business …

The China-New Zealand relationship, both trade and cultural, is in good shape irrespective of different views on some issues. That was the message from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Minister of Trade and Export Growth David Parker and Chinese Ambassador Wu Xi to more than 300 delegates attending the 2020 China Business Summit, organised by NZ INC. and Auckland Business Chamber. …

A leading Chinese commentator has suggested the time is right for China, the world’s second largest economy, to join the Trans-Pacific free trade agreement along with New Zealand and 10 other countries. Isolation is not the solution and China should be open towards high-standard trade pacts such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), Caixin Media founder …

Regina Scheyvens, Massey University and Apisalome Movono, Massey University Pacific nations have largely avoided the worst health effects of COVID-19, but its economic impact has been devastating. With the tourism tap turned off, unemployment has soared while GDP has plummeted. In recent weeks, Fiji Airways laid off 775 employees and souvenir business Jack’s of Fiji laid off 500. In Vanuatu …

China and Hong Kong will this week reach a major turning point, with the expected signing of the new National Security Law in Beijing. The law is designed to quell the continuing pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, but marks a departure from the “One Country, Two Systems” arrangement Hong Kong has worked under since 1997, which includes a high degree of …

Rory Horner, University of Manchester The biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world, known as “big pharma”, are American and European. The top five are Pfizer (US), Roche, Novartis (both Swiss), Merck (US) and GlaxoSmithKline (UK). Yet these companies – and the pharmaceutical industry as a whole – rely on global supply chains. And China and India play key roles in …

Hongzhi Gao, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington and Monica Ren, Macquarie University When it comes to our economic over-reliance on China, New Zealand consumers need look no further than their most popular big box chain, The Warehouse. The familiar “big red shed” sourced about 60% of its home brand stock from China in 2017 – and a …

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s no such thing as business as usual. To find out how businesses on the ground in Asia are working in a new environment, last week, the Asia New Zealand Foundation surveyed more than 100 of its business stakeholders across Asia, from Cambodia to South Korea. In this quick snapshot, entrepreneurs and business people gave their …