Acting Consul-General Xu Haiyuan Attends Events at 23rd New Zealand Chinese Culture Festival

Summary

Two concerts marking the 23rd New Zealand Chinese Culture Festival were held in Christchurch on 12 September. Acting Consul-General Xu Haiyuan, Yin Ji, director of the Bilateral Division, Consul Gong Ping and more than 300 members of the Chinese community, overseas Chinese and friends from various sectors attended the performances. After the concerts, Xu Haiyuan gave an on-site speech in which he spoke highly of both performances.

He said music is a language that transcends borders and expressed the hope that it could serve as a bond to deepen China-New Zealand people-to-people and cultural exchanges and promote mutual learning and integration among diverse cultures. The festival was co-hosted by the New Zealand-China Cultural Exchange Association, the Canterbury Chinese Teachers Association, Datang Yuefu, the Chinese Art Troupe and others. Among the events, the 'Huayun Xingguang' Xu Hongying solo concert featured classic Chinese folk songs, popular film and television songs, songs set to classical poetry, selections from Western opera and Māori music, while the 'When Music Meets Film and Television' Chinese and Western instrumental themed concert presented classic soundtracks from Chinese and foreign film, television and animation, along with animation medley songs.

The two performances were splendid and gave the audience an audio-visual feast blending the beauty of Eastern and Western art.

Commentary

The New Zealand Chinese Culture Festival has now run for 23 consecutive years and has become a significant cultural brand for the Chinese community in the Canterbury region. The two concerts in Christchurch drew more than 300 audience members, showcasing a fusion of Eastern and Western music while signalling a vibrant multicultural market in New Zealand. For local SMEs — particularly food and beverage, retail and tourism operators targeting Chinese consumers — the festival is a window onto a highly loyal customer group in concentrated form.

Many New Zealand SMEs overlook the spending potential of the Chinese community, yet that community has sustained demand for China-New Zealand cultural products and is more willing to support businesses that take part in community activities. From an international trade perspective, cultural diplomacy is often seen as the advance guard of economic and commercial cooperation. Since the upgrade of the China-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement, barriers to trade in services and digital trade have come down further, but SMEs generally lack the trust endorsement needed to enter the Chinese market.

Cultural events backed by embassies and consulates give local businesses the chance to build informal connections with Chinese institutions and cultural groups. The organisers this time included the Canterbury Chinese Language Teachers Association, for example, reflecting growth in New Zealand's Chinese-language education market. SMEs that develop textbooks, digital tools or cultural experience products for Chinese learners may gain early seed users through the platform the Chinese Culture Festival provides.

The performance programme also included Māori music, indicating that China-New Zealand cultural fusion is producing localised content — potential material for creative industry exports. Both concerts showed that a community festival can serve as just this kind of platform.

Keywords: The 23rd New Zealand Chinese Culture Festival, Acting Consul-General Xu Haiyuan, Christchurch concerts, China-New Zealand people-to-people and cultural exchanges, Huayun Xingguang, When Music Meets Film and Television, New Zealand-China Cultural Exchange Association, Canterbury Chinese Language Teachers Association

Summary in Chinese | 摘要

9月12日，第23届新西兰中国文化节两场音乐会在克市成功举办。许海远代总领事、双边处尹济主任、龚平领事与华人华侨及各界友人共300多人观看演出。演出后，许海远现场发表感言，盛赞两场演出，表示音乐是跨越国界的语言，希望以此为纽带，深化中新人文交流，促进多元文化交融互鉴。

本次文化节由新西兰新中文化交流协会、坎特伯雷中文教师协会、大唐乐府、中华艺术团等联合主办。其中，“华韵星光”许宏英独唱音乐会涵盖中国经典民歌、影视金曲、古典诗词歌曲、西洋歌剧选段以及毛利音乐；《当音乐遇到影视》中西器乐主题音乐会荟萃中外影视、动漫经典配乐与动漫联唱曲目。两场演出精彩纷呈，为观众打造了融汇东西方艺术之美的视听盛宴。

Commentary in Chinese | 评论

第23届新西兰中国文化节连续举办23年，已成为坎特伯雷地区华人社区的重要文化品牌。本次两场音乐会在克市吸引300余名观众，不仅展现东西方音乐融合，更传递出新西兰多元文化市场的活跃信号。对于本地中小企业，尤其是面向华人消费者的餐饮、零售、旅游服务商，文化节是集中触达高粘性客群的窗口。

许多新西兰中小企业常忽视华人社区内部的消费潜力，而这一群体往往对中新文化产品有持续需求，且更愿意支持参与社区活动的商家。从国际贸易视角看，文化外交常被视为经贸合作的“前站”。中新自贸协定升级后，服务贸易与数字贸易壁垒进一步降低，但中小企业普遍缺乏进入中国市场的信任背书。

此类由使领馆支持的文化活动，为本地企业提供了与中方机构、文化团体建立非正式联系的场合。例如，本次主办方包括坎特伯雷中文教师协会，反映出新西兰中文教育市场的增长——中小企业若能开发针对中文学习者的教材、数字工具或文化体验产品，可能借助中国文化节的平台获得早期种子用户。另外，演出曲目涵盖毛利音乐，说明中新文化融合正在产生本地化内容，这为创意产业出口提供了潜在素材。

两场音乐会均以中西合璧为特色，300余人的到场规模虽不大，但观众构成包括华人华侨和各界友人，说明跨文化消费场景真实存在。新西兰中小企业不应仅将文化节视为社区活动，而应评估自身产品能否嵌入这类文化消费链——从演出票务、餐饮配套到文化纪念品，都有可挖掘的细分机会。如果能在本地文化节中建立口碑，未来通过华人社群网络向中国消费者推广，成本远低于直接跨境营销。

关键词: 第23届新西兰中国文化节, 许海远代总领事, 克市音乐会, 中新人文交流, 华韵星光, 当音乐遇到影视, 新中文化交流协会, 坎特伯雷中文教师协会

Source: Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch – Consulate-General News