Summary
Li Xin, vice chair of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), led a delegation to the New Zealand Guangdong Chamber of Commerce on 19 October 2026, where the team received a warm welcome. Wang Jiazheng, chief representative of the Guangdong Economic and Trade Representative Office in New Zealand and president of the chamber, briefed the delegation on the chamber's 12-year history and its work aligned with Guangdong's economic development priorities. Under the 'five external linkages' strategy, the chamber has helped Guangdong SMEs expand overseas and completed three major projects: the New Zealand China Commodities Expo, launched over three years and filling a national gap; the first Guangdong prepared food production, sales and research centre; and a county-level overseas warehouse in New Zealand, creating an efficient trade platform for Chinese SMEs entering the South Pacific.
Li Xin praised the achievements of the chamber and its member entrepreneurs, thanking them for their commitment to China and Guangdong while living overseas. She said overseas Chinese are both witnesses and participants in Guangdong's development, and encouraged chamber members to visit Guangdong more often and take part in CPPCC exchanges and political consultation, sharing practical needs and suggestions. She stressed that Guangdong's sound investment environment attracts enterprises from home and abroad, and that the chamber should play a pioneering role as an overseas platform to promote complementarity and shared development between enterprises in Guangdong and New Zealand.
Li Xin then toured the east exhibition hall of the overseas warehouse to learn how the chamber uses physical platforms to support trade cooperation and bring Guangdong products into the New Zealand market. Also attending the discussion were delegation members including Chen Qiuyan, director of the CPPCC Guangdong Committee's Foreign Affairs and Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission, and Chen Yilan, vice chair of the Zhuhai CPPCC. Chamber vice presidents Huang Fengxia, Chen Jianfeng and Qiu Junqiang, and secretary-general Long Hao, also took part.
Commentary
The three projects driven by the New Zealand Guangdong Chamber of Commerce—the China Commodities Expo, the prepared food production, sales and research centre, and the county-level overseas warehouse—provide a physical platform for Guangdong SMEs entering the South Pacific market. For local SMEs, the overseas warehouse model can reduce warehousing and logistics costs, making it particularly suitable for Chinese brands testing the New Zealand market. However, New Zealand's retail sector is highly concentrated, with Foodstuffs and Woolworths NZ holding about 80 percent of the market, so the barrier for new brands entering mainstream channels is high; the chamber's platform may offer a buffer.
On the other hand, prepared food remains an emerging category in New Zealand, and local consumer acceptance of processed foods and regulatory requirements, such as MPI food safety standards, need careful assessment. Trade complementarity between Guangdong and New Zealand is strong, but SMEs should focus on compliance and localisation challenges in implementation rather than relying on a single platform.
Keywords: New Zealand Guangdong Chamber of Commerce, Guangdong Provincial Committee of the CPPCC, Li Xin, Wang Jiazheng, three major projects, New Zealand China Commodities Expo, Guangdong prepared food production, sales and research centre, county-level overseas warehouse, enterprises going global
Source: NZ Guangdong Chamber of Commerce
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