Chengdu Hosts ‘Open Chengdu, Link the Globe’ China (Chengdu)–New Zealand Trade Matchmaking Conference

Summary

The 'Open Chengdu, Link the Globe' China (Chengdu)–New Zealand trade matchmaking conference was held in Chengdu on 7 September, hosted by the Chengdu Centre for Opening-up and Cooperation Promotion and the Chengdu Federation of Industry and Commerce (General Chamber of Commerce). Simon Bridges, chief executive of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce, led a 20-strong trade delegation to the city, joining more than 80 representatives from Chengdu government departments, industry associations and businesses. In his welcome address, Yu Jian, chairman of the Chengdu Federation of Industry and Commerce and president of the Chengdu General Chamber of Commerce, said Chengdu and the Waikato region established friendly cooperative relations in 1996 and formally became sister cities with Hamilton in 2015, with the two sides marking 11 years of sister-city ties this year.

The resumption of direct Chengdu–Auckland flights in 2024 has put two-way trade and economic exchanges on the fast track. China remains New Zealand's largest goods trading partner, and Sichuan and New Zealand are working ever more closely in food trade, tourism, education, science and technology. The Chengdu Centre for Opening-up and Cooperation Promotion presented its 'five foreign-related linkages' framework, and the Chengdu Investment Promotion Bureau presented on the city's business environment.

The centre awarded the Auckland Chamber of Commerce an 'Open Chengdu' overseas partner plaque, with the two sides to build a long-term cooperation mechanism covering trade information sharing, business delegation visits and matchmaking, and industry cooperation. In the pitch session, representatives of five New Zealand companies and six Chengdu companies took the stage, followed by one-on-one B2B meetings covering biomedicine, food trade, building materials and home furnishings, and green energy, generating five cooperation intentions. The Chengdu Federation of Industry and Commerce said it will keep building high-frequency platforms for interaction between Chinese and foreign business communities and guide Chengdu's private enterprises into global industrial, supply and value chains.

Commentary

The Auckland Chamber of Commerce's 20-member trade delegation to Chengdu, and the 'Open Chengdu' overseas partner status it received, opens a new organised channel for New Zealand small and medium-sized enterprises into China's western market. Chengdu is a consumer centre in western China, and the resumption of direct Auckland flights in 2024 has cut both travel time and cost for business trips. For NZ SMEs, the scale of Sichuan's food trade is the obvious draw: China is New Zealand's largest goods trading partner, with dairy, meat and seafood the mainstay of exports, and Chengdu's sister-city relationship with Waikato has laid years of government and business connections for companies such as Fonterra.

This matchmaking round focused on biomedicine, food trade, building materials and home furnishings, and green energy. Food trade is New Zealand's traditional strength, but competition comes not only from recovering Australian dairy exports but also from Chinese domestic brands expanding into premium lines. To capitalise, NZ SMEs need to use the long-term information-sharing mechanism the Auckland Chamber and Chengdu have established, and find partners familiar with local cold chain, certification and e-commerce channels.

They should also turn one-off B2B meetings into sustained follow-up: only five cooperation intentions were generated, showing that filtering and trust-building still stand between an initial talk and an actual order. The opportunity in Chengdu lies in the incremental demand from consumption upgrading in second- and third-tier cities, but logistics reach and localisation capability determine success. NZ SMEs would do well to start with small, frequent trial orders rather than betting on large-scale distribution agreements.

Keywords: Chengdu, New Zealand, trade matchmaking conference, Auckland Chamber of Commerce, Simon Bridges, sister-city cooperation, five foreign-related linkages, direct flights, cooperation intentions, opening-up

Source: Chengdu Federation of Industry and Commerce Portal