Friendly welcome will go a long way

It’s time for all New Zealanders to get smart about where New Zealand’s future prosperity lies. It’s Asia, including China.

It is a region with a growing middle class who want what our nation has to offer — high quality food, stunning scenery to visit, an excellent education sector, innovative people and a country that by and large understands noone owes us a living.

Around much of the globe we are seeing a pullback from globalisation — it’s seen as evil- and having cost people jobs and homes. The reality is New Zealand has benefited greatly from globalisation and freeing up trade barriers.

A rollback of that does not bode well for our country and future generations. As a country of only 4.5 million people, trading amongst ourselves is not a winner. The antiglobalisation sentiment — if it gains more traction — is likely to have severe negative economic consequences for us.

We have long relied on the ability to trade, to bring jobs and economic wealth to this country. That prosperity has allowed us to provide a society most New Zealanders want — one that can protect the vulnerable, the unfortunate and needy.

In the Trump, Brexit, and antiglobalisation and trade sentiment pervading the globe, China is standing out as a major economic power continuing to advocate the benefits of trade. Ironically China is becoming an advocate of greater trade while the once great nation of free trade, the United States, retreats into protectionism.

China is our second largest trade partner, biggest source of foreign students and a fastgrowing contributor to our biggest export earner, tourism.

While the US has pulled out of Trans-Pacific Partnership, China has reached out to New Zealand to upgrade our Free Trade Agreement and opened the door to New Zealand participating in its One Belt One Road initiative. Get with the programme — D7

Ironically China is becoming an advocate of greater trade while the once great nation of free trade, the United States, retreats into protectionism.