Shandong, NZTE sign Silver Fern mark promotion deal in Qingdao

Summary

The Shandong Provincial Department of Commerce and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise signed a joint work arrangement on promoting the Silver Fern mark in Qingdao on 4 September. Zhang Guoliang, a second-level inspector at the department, and New Zealand Ambassador to China Qiao Wenbo attended the ceremony and witnessed the signing. It is the first consensus document on origin-mark promotion signed between the New Zealand government and a Chinese provincial government.

The arrangement aims to promote New Zealand's Silver Fern mark and trusted products to consumers and business partners, and to further lift trade cooperation between Shandong and New Zealand. Representatives from Shandong's foreign trade, retail and food service sectors joined representatives of 10 New Zealand companies at the event, where they discussed consumer trends, market opportunities and prospects for cooperation. The Shandong Provincial Department of Commerce released the information on 4 September 2026.

Commentary

New Zealand Trade and Enterprise's joint work arrangement with the Shandong Provincial Department of Commerce is the first cooperation framework between New Zealand's official certification mark and a Chinese provincial government. The Silver Fern mark is a New Zealand origin quality certification covering categories including food and beverage, health supplements and skincare. For New Zealand exporters, the deal means officially endorsed channel promotion in Shandong, a market of more than 100 million people with a deep agricultural and food processing base.

For small and medium-sized New Zealand firms, the mark generally requires the company to be registered in New Zealand and its products to meet local production standards. Certification in itself therefore constitutes a quality threshold for entering the Chinese market. Company representatives from Shandong's retail and food service channels will deal directly with 10 New Zealand firms.

Targeted matchmaking at provincial level helps smaller brands bypass large importers and build direct supply relationships. Awareness of the Silver Fern mark among Chinese consumers, however, remains well below the general impression of 'made in New Zealand'. The promotional impact in Shandong will depend on the specific activity spending that follows, not on a single document.

Another perspective: since the upgrade of the China-New Zealand free trade agreement, tariffs on New Zealand dairy and meat exports to China have been cut progressively. Non-tariff barriers such as labelling certification and cross-border e-commerce compliance remain practical obstacles, and the Silver Fern mark may ease trust issues in part. For SME owners, the advice is to watch particular import channels for food in Shandong.

The province has ports including Qingdao and Yantai and well-developed cold chain logistics, making it suitable for testing market response for fresh and high-value food. When working with local Shandong retailers, companies should confirm whether the partner holds import qualifications and has terminal display capability, rather than stopping at the signing ceremony. As the first provincial template, the arrangement could be replicated in coastal provinces such as Zhejiang and Guangdong if it proves effective in Shandong, though the pace of execution will depend on NZTE's resourcing and company participation.

Keywords: Silver Fern mark, Shandong Provincial Department of Commerce, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, origin mark, joint work arrangement, Qingdao, Shandong-New Zealand trade cooperation, Qiao Wenbo, Zhang Guoliang, New Zealand company representatives

Source: Shandong Provincial Department of Commerce