Australia-NZ delegation visits Linyi

Summary

A three-member delegation including Michael Guo, chief executive of the Australian International Chamber of Commerce and executive president of the New Zealand International Exchange Centre, and John Robertson, mayor of Waitomo, New Zealand, visited Linyi on 13 October. Li Wuji, a member of the Linyi municipal government party group and vice-mayor, attended the meeting and delivered remarks. Wang Guangyu, party secretary and director of the Linyi Foreign Affairs Office, and Yan Zhiping, a member of the office's party group and deputy director, also took part in the discussion.

At the meeting, Li welcomed the delegation and gave a brief overview of Linyi's economic and social development, noting that as a renowned commercial city and logistics hub in China, Linyi is focused on high-quality development of its wholesale market and is steadily expanding high-level opening-up, with broad scope for co-operation with Australia and New Zealand in industrial complementarity and market connectivity. The delegation spoke highly of Linyi's trade and logistics strengths and industrial vitality, and expressed willingness to use the visit as an opportunity to lift practical co-operation to a new level. The two sides held in-depth discussions on youth education, deeper teacher-student exchanges and two-way import and export trade, and also exchanged views on building overseas warehouses and product display bases and jointly promoting tourism routes.

Officials from relevant municipal departments and representatives of related enterprises attended the meeting.

Commentary

Linyi is a major commercial and logistics hub in northern China, with 131 specialised wholesale markets and an average of 300,000 travelling traders a day. Its logistics network covers every city at county level and above across the country, and logistics costs are 30 percent lower than the national average. The delegation's visit focused on building overseas warehouses and product display bases.

For New Zealand small and medium-sized enterprises, this could lower the threshold for entering China's second- and third-tier markets through Linyi's logistics system. Waitomo is known for its glowworm caves, but the district is also an important agricultural and pastoral region in New Zealand. Linking it with Linyi's food processing and distribution channels would help smaller agricultural exporters cut out intermediaries.

On the other hand, the Linyi wholesale market is shifting from traditional wholesale to cross-border e-commerce. Combining its overseas warehouse network with local warehousing services in New Zealand could shorten delivery times for New Zealand products in China, though compliance requirements for imported goods on Chinese e-commerce platforms are becoming increasingly strict. The talks also covered youth education exchanges, offering a potential channel for New Zealand education providers to recruit Chinese students, though the short-term commercial impact is limited.

Keywords: Australia-NZ delegation, Linyi, Michael Guo, John Robertson, Li Wuji, economic and trade co-operation, teacher-student exchanges, overseas warehouses, tourism route promotion

Summary in Chinese | 摘要

10月13日，澳大利亚国际商会首席执行官、新西兰国际交流中心执行总裁麦克·果，新西兰怀托摩市市长约翰·罗伯逊一行3人访问临沂。临沂市政府党组成员、副市长李无旡出席会议并讲话，市外办党组书记、主任王广玉，市外办党组成员、副主任闫智平参加座谈。座谈会上，李无旡对澳新代表团的到访表示欢迎，并简要介绍了临沂经济社会发展情况，指出临沂作为中国市场名城、物流之都，当前正以商城高质量发展为主抓手，持续扩大高水平对外开放，与澳新地区在产业互补、市场互通方面拥有广阔合作空间。

澳新代表团对临沂的商贸物流优势和产业发展活力给予高度评价，表示愿以此次访问为契机，推动双方务实合作迈上新台阶。双方围绕青少年教育、深化师生互访交流以及双向进出口贸易进行了深入对接，并就海外仓及产品展示基地建设、旅游线路联合推广等进行了交流。市直有关部门负责人及相关企业代表参加座谈。

Commentary in Chinese | 评论

临沂作为中国北方重要的商贸物流枢纽，拥有131处专业批发市场和日均30万流动客商，其物流网络覆盖全国所有县级以上城市，物流成本比全国平均低30%。此次澳新代表团访问临沂，重点探讨海外仓及产品展示基地建设，对新西兰中小企业而言，这意味着通过临沂的物流体系进入中国二三线市场的门槛可能降低。怀托摩市以萤火虫洞旅游闻名，但该市所在地区也是新西兰重要的农牧业产区，若能与临沂的食品加工和分销渠道对接，将有助于中小型农产品出口商减少中间环节。

另一方面，临沂商城正从传统批发向跨境电商转型，其海外仓布局若与新西兰本地仓储服务结合，可缩短新西兰产品在中国的交付周期，但需注意中国国内电商平台对进口商品的合规要求日趋严格。此次会谈还涉及青少年教育交流，这为新西兰教育机构开拓中国生源提供了潜在渠道，但短期商业影响有限。

关键词: 澳新代表团, 临沂, 麦克·果, 约翰·罗伯逊, 李无旡, 经贸合作, 师生互访, 海外仓, 旅游线路推广

Source: Linyi Foreign Affairs