Weinan Delegation Promotes Trade Ties in Christchurch

Summary

On 5 November 2026, Wang Hao, Secretary of the CPC Weinan Municipal Committee, led a delegation to New Zealand's South Island and held a Weinan (Shaanxi) trade promotion event in Christchurch. Xu Haiyuan, Acting Consul-General of the Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch, attended at invitation. Dan Gordon, Mayor of Waimakariri District, Michelle MacWilliam, Chair of the Christchurch China Sister Cities Committee, Zhao Fang, President of the New Zealand Shaanxi Chamber of Commerce, and numerous friends from Christchurch's business, technology and cultural circles also attended.

In his remarks, Wang Hao gave a comprehensive introduction to Weinan's locational advantages, industrial characteristics and development opportunities, and sincerely invited people from all sectors in New Zealand to visit Weinan, deepen cooperation and explore business opportunities together. Acting Consul-General Xu Haiyuan said in his speech that Canterbury and Weinan have complementary strengths and broad cooperation opportunities, and expressed the hope that the two places will deepen exchanges and cooperation in areas such as agricultural and pastoral products, cultural tourism, and trade and investment to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results. The Consulate-General is willing to serve as a bridge to help deepen friendly cooperation between the two places.

The event was friendly and lively, and intangible cultural heritage performances such as the Qin opera stunt Huoliuxing, marionettes and shadow puppetry drew rounds of applause. After the event, delegation members held in-depth matchmaking sessions with local people from various sectors to discuss cooperation opportunities.

Commentary

Weinan, the eastern gateway of Shaanxi, is rich in agricultural resources, with output of specialty products such as apples, kiwifruit and Sichuan pepper ranking among the highest in China. However, its exports have long relied on low-value primary products. This promotion event focused on agricultural and pastoral products, cultural tourism and trade and investment, complementing Canterbury's technological strengths.

New Zealand small and medium-sized enterprises have mature experience in agricultural product processing, cold-chain logistics and agricultural technology, and can look to cooperation needs in Weinan in areas such as deep processing of fruit products and modernisation of livestock farming. For example, Weinan has more than 2 million mu of apple orchards, but its deep-processing rate is less than 30 percent, and New Zealand suppliers of juice and dried-fruit processing technology and equipment may find an entry point. At the same time, Weinan is promoting the integration of culture and tourism.

Its intangible cultural heritage resources, such as shadow puppetry and marionettes, have international appeal, but its cultural tourism product development and marketing capabilities are relatively weak, and New Zealand cultural tourism planning and digital marketing companies can explore cooperation. However, Chinese local trade promotion events often become mere formalities, with limited projects actually implemented, and Weinan is not a first-tier city, with limited market size and consumer capacity, so New Zealand companies need to assess cooperation risks carefully. It is advisable to use channels such as the New Zealand Shaanxi Chamber of Commerce to start with small-scale pilot projects and then expand gradually.

Keywords: Weinan trade promotion event, Christchurch, Wang Hao, Xu Haiyuan, Canterbury, sister-city cooperation, agricultural and pastoral products, cultural tourism, intangible cultural heritage performances

Photo by Andrew-Art on Pixabay

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