New Zealand Inc sent our largest, most senior business and cultural delegation to China in April. Led by Prime Minister Rt Hon John Key, the mission marked forty-years of diplomatic relations and five years since the China-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement.

Te Puni Kōkiri has supported three successful trade missions to China in recent years, helping Māori entrepreneurs forge a unique approach to business that is indigenous to the Asia Pacific region and founded on culture, history and people. The growing Māori economy is valued at $37 billion with most made up of small to medium enterprises. Māori asset holders currently control 37% of New Zealand’s total fish quota and 36% of all forestry assets.

Following on from successful missions led by Māori Affairs Minister Dr Pita Sharples and Te Puni Kōkiri, Māori asset holders representing our Taniwha Economy played a lead role in the latest delegation. Dr Sharples and Te Puni Kōkiri Chief Executive Michelle Hippolite joined other government dignitaries including Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce, Trade Minister Tim Groser and Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully.

Speaking at the inaugural New Zealand China Partnership Forum in Beijing, Dr Sharples said Māori concepts of whanaungatanga, as with Chinese concepts of guanxi are founded on diplomacy, culture and relationships.

He paid tribute to Māori connections to China that stretch back through time from the scribes of Hou Han Shu who recorded the great Taupō eruption more than 200 years ago; to the Polynesian ancestors who used advanced science to craft the world’s first long-range, open sea faring vessels.

“As they left Asia, they looked to the stars; using astronavigation they guided entire communities across millions of square miles of ocean. I proudly acknowledge our shared heritage and pay tribute to all of our ancestors and acknowledge their courage, audacity and genius. As we prepare for the future – we can find inspiration in our not too distant past. We can look to our ancestors from across the Asia Pacific region, the ultimate explorers, leaders, innovators of their time.”

Michelle says witnessing the signing of an arrangement between Miraka Limited and Shanghai Pengxin Group was a very good day for Māori business.

“Relationships are key to doing business in China. Given the scale of development and the speed of change it is clear the Chinese have foresight and focus.”

The delegation also took part in a symbolic ceremony where a korowai – gifted to Chairman Mao Zedong in 1957 by Kingi Korokī – was loaned back to New Zealand as it will be part of an upcoming exhibition at Te Papa Tongarewa.

The mission aimed to support New Zealand companies in China through business support activities and major tourism and education promotional events held in the three Chinese cities the delegation visited – Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing. One of the priorities for NZ Inc.’s China Strategy is to build and consolidate Māori cultural and business links to China.