Cofco chairman Frank Ning was one of the star performers at the inaugural New Zealand China Partnership Forum in Beijing last Friday. Ning has thought long and hard about Cofco’s relationship with food-producing nations like New Zealand. I’ll be writing more about this in coming days. Meantime this Bloomberg clip gives an indication into Ning’s thinking.

Prime Minister John Key arrived back in New Zealand from Beijing with a strong message ringing in his ears that China Inc wants to step up the pace and take the bilateral economic partnership to the next stage. It was a good week for Key. Not only have senior Chinese accepted the essential value proposition of New Zealand to China (which …

Summerset Group, the retirement village operator and developer, is pressing ahead with plans for a $100 million site in Lower Hutt after completing due diligence. The Wellington-based company plans to buy the 3.3 hectare site from Boulcott’s Farm Heritage Golf Club for its 20th retirement village, it said in a statement. The contract needs Overseas Investment Office approval, which is …