Xia Yang joins 2026 Guangzhou trade promotion conference, pledges deeper China-NZ cooperation

Summary

Guangzhou's trade promotion body has set out its 2026 priorities, with the head of its New Zealand liaison office telling delegates the office will deepen commercial ties between the city and New Zealand. The 2026 Guangzhou trade promotion work conference was held in Tianhe district on 19 March, hosted by the Guangzhou Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT Guangzhou) and chaired by deputy director Huang Xiaofeng. It reviewed the council's 2025 results and set key tasks for 2026.

Xia Yang, who heads CCPIT Guangzhou's New Zealand liaison office and chairs both New Zealand AFC Group and Yunshijie Network Technology Co Ltd, attended at invitation and gave a special address. Xia said the New Zealand liaison office, an overseas economic and trade representative body authorised by CCPIT Guangzhou, works with the New Zealand Guangdong Chamber of Commerce to build trade and investment bridges between Guangzhou and New Zealand. Outlining how the office will respond to the city's 2026 trade promotion plan, he named four priorities for the liaison office, New Zealand AFC Group and Yunshijie:

Acting as a bridge between government and business to advance cooperation across trade, investment, tourism and technology; strengthening trade promotion platforms by running flagship expos and upgrading overseas warehouses and exhibition and sales centres; lifting localised service capability to help Guangzhou firms go global and bring quality New Zealand resources into the market; and using overseas Chinese networks to unite Cantonese businesses worldwide.

Under the guidance of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce, the partners will accelerate development and rollout of a vertical AI large model for international food and agricultural trade, push for the China Food Import and Export Exhibition and Trading Centre and its big data centre to be based in Guangzhou, and support the "Global Cantonese Merchants' Guangzhou Home" project in Tianhe. CCPIT Guangzhou director Chen Simin closed the meeting with the council's work report, reviewing 2025 outcomes, analysing opportunities and challenges, and setting out 2026 priorities. The Yunshijie platform has completed its version 4.0 upgrade, covering an industrial big data network across 60 countries, with professional databases spanning 18 major food categories and level 2 to level 3 classifications, close to 35,000 member enterprises and a private-domain consumer traffic pool of nearly 1 million.

The jointly developed "Yunshihui" AI model draws on industry databases from more than 120 countries and classification standards for 18 major food categories, covering 12 core stages. Yunshijie said it will continue working with New Zealand AFC Group and CCPIT Guangzhou's New Zealand liaison office to deepen China-New Zealand economic and trade cooperation and contribute to Guangzhou's efforts to build a higher-level open economy.

Commentary

The signal from Guangzhou's trade promotion conference that matters most to New Zealand's small and medium-sized food exporters is the arrival of digital trade infrastructure. China is New Zealand's largest trading partner, with two-way goods trade of about NZ$38 billion in 2024, led by dairy, meat and fruit. Fonterra, Zespri and other large players already have mature channels, but a long tail of smaller specialty food brands remains constrained by complex market access procedures and costly distribution networks in China.

Yunshijie says it has 35,000 member enterprises and close to 1 million private-domain consumers, and its version 4.0 covers industry data from 60 countries. In effect, that is an online trading floor where Chinese importers can source food from New Zealand and elsewhere in one place. Seen as an opportunity, New Zealand SMEs could use the platform's links to Guangzhou's overseas warehouses and exhibition and sales centres to bypass traditional multi-tier distribution and deal directly with wholesalers in tier-2 and tier-3 cities or community group-buying channels.

The jointly developed Yunshihui AI model covers 12 stages, including compliance review and smart customs clearance, which in theory lowers the risk of shipments being turned back because an exporter does not understand Chinese food safety standards. That is particularly practical for categories such as manuka honey, premium wine and plant-based foods. Seen from another angle, relying on a single third-party platform carries risks for data ownership and bargaining power.

The platform holds the transaction data and the buyer traffic. If New Zealand exporters migrate their customer relationships onto it in large numbers, they may later face commission changes or competition for priority display placement. Guangzhou is also not the traditional first port of entry for New Zealand food imports.

Shanghai, Tianjin and Shenzhen have more mature cold chain and customs clearance operations, and the logistics cost difference is something each company needs to work out for itself. What New Zealand SMEs should be watching is whether Yunshijie opens its origin data interfaces so that export certification information from the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) can be mutually recognised with the platform's database. They should also ask whether, across the 18 major food categories, New Zealand can secure "one country, one pavilion" priority placement in sub-categories such as dairy, meat, fruit and honey.

Given the platform has begun the process of establishing the China Food Import and Export Exhibition and Trading Centre and its big data centre in Guangzhou, New Zealand exporters that engage with its origin standard alignment in 2026 are more likely to lock in precise buyers early than those that join passively later.

Keywords: CCPIT Guangzhou, New Zealand liaison office, Xia Yang, China-New Zealand economic and trade cooperation, Yunshijie, vertical AI large model for international food and agricultural trade, China Food Import and Export Exhibition and Trading Centre, Guangzhou high-level opening-up, Yunshihui, overseas warehouses

Source: Cloud Food World Efoodline