Mayoral delegation opens doors for NZ businesses in China

Whitireia Polytechnic deputy general manager (international) Meijian Chi says she had visited China many times, but travelling with Wellington mayor Celia Wade-Brown in July allowed Whitireia to reach higher levels of Chinese government, including the mayors of Beijing and Tianjin.

“We invited our Chinese partners to attend the mayors’ receptions. It was a good opportunity to promote New Zealand and gain a greater degree of confidence in New Zealand.”

Whitireia has 800 Chinese students this year (of 1,400 international students) and has been working in the Chinese market for 14 years. It also has an office in Beijing to support its agents and partner schools.

Chi has developed partnerships with 10 tertiary institutions that involve Whitireia in academic support and teaching in China.

In particular, Whitireia is working to promote New Zealand’s arts and culture education, aviation training and vocational training in general. “China is focusing more and more on vocational training,” she said.

Television production company Gibson Group also took part in this year’s delegation – its second. Legal and business affairs manager Victoria Spackman said they sent more staff on the trip to China and Japan after last year’s success. "Travelling in a recognised group from Wellington with the mayor is very beneficial."

Since their first visit, the Gibson Group has made three episodes of a programme for Tianjin Television about New Zealand and Australian wine and culture. The episodes, developed with Australian partners, were funded by the vineyards.

“We’ve developed better relationships through that project, introduced those vineyards to a wine distributor in China, and built up relationships in wider areas, including with various mayors and officials, which will be useful in business in the future.”

Gibson Group is pitching for visitor attraction projects at museums in China and Hong Kong.

During the trip, Gibson Group demonstrated an interactive video installation it had created for the Museum of Copenhagen. This attraction, ‘Vaeggen’ or ‘Wall’, won the World e-Culture and Heritage section of this year’s World Summit Awards.

“Even though the people we showed it to don’t speak Danish, they were delighted to be able to explore Copenhagen in that way. Having something to show breaks the ice and bridges cultures. It also makes connections about innovative cities.”

Gibson Group staff met the mayors of all the Chinese cities the delegation visited – Beijing, Tianjin, Xiamen and Guangzhou – as well as city officials responsible for culture, museums, television and foreign affairs.

Spackman says travelling with other Wellington businesspeople, and swapping stories about their experiences in China, was helpful.

“We’ve since asked the Wellington City Council to help us with follow-up conversations with the people we met in China, and also with an invitation we’re extending to a senior museum executive to visit us in Wellington.”

For John Huckerby, the chairman of the Ocean Energy Systems Agreement, the delegation offered a good opportunity to follow up with one of the agreement’s newest signatories.

Huckerby had been encouraging China to sign up to the agreement, which is technology initiative supported by the International Energy Agency, for two years. It joined earlier this year.

 “By introducing the mayor and profiling New Zealand wave energy initiatives, we were able to cement the relationship.”

A survey of the 30 delegates found high levels of satisfaction with the trip. Wellington City Council (WCC) is currently exploring whether it can share resources with Melbourne, which has an office in Tianjin, to develop Wellington and Tianjin’s Friendly City relationship further. Melbourne has a sister-city relationship with Tianjin.

WCC international relations manager Tom Yuan said Wellington and New Zealand had been developing a closer relationship with the city during the past 10 years.

WCC was also talking to central and local government agencies about how it could support local exporters further. “One of the more intangible benefits of a delegation like this is the contact delegates have with each other and the business they later develop together.”

The next delegation to China is planned for May 2012.

Images:
1. Gibson Group delegates in Tianjin demonstrate the visitor attraction technology they created for the Museum of Copenhagen
2 Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown and Tianjin Mayor Huang Xingguo