Summary
China's Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Zhang Zhu, held separate talks in Hangzhou on August 24 with his Vietnamese counterpart,
Trinh Viet Hung, and New Zealand's Minister for Biosecurity and Food Safety, Andrew John Hoggard. The discussions focused on deepening co-operation in agricultural and fishery product trade,
as well as sustainable agricultural development.
Commentary
The NZ-China Joint Agricultural Committee has identified biosecurity, food safety standards and avian influenza controls as key priorities, which could mean lower compliance costs for New Zealand's smaller exporters. China remains New Zealand's largest single market, with Fonterra's Greater China revenue contributing about 25 percent of its global total, and Zespri sending around 20 percent of its exports to China. Meanwhile, Vietnam is also advancing trade and business matching in agricultural and fishery products, while low-cost fruit and seafood from ASEAN are gaining share in the Chinese market, intensifying price competition.
For NZ SMEs, closely tracking regional standards alignment and building advantages in niche areas such as sustainability certification, grass-fed dairy and premium kiwifruit will be crucial to avoid commodity-style homogeneous competition.
Keywords: Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Zhang Zhu, Vietnam, New Zealand, agricultural cooperation, APEC, food security, agricultural trade
Source: Sina
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