Language week helps to build China trade bridges
Learning the language is the first step for businesses wanting to become Chinaready, businesswoman Jo Coughlan says.
China is New Zealand’s second-largest trading partner, its biggest market for export goods, a fast-growing service market and an increasingly major source of foreign investment.
Coughlan heads up New Zealand Chinese Language Week, which starts today. One feature is a social media campaign teaching five Mandarin phrases through videos.
Coughlan is also director of agribusiness Silvereye and said that as a business owner, she recognised the opportunities, challenges and complexities of the Chinese market.
‘‘It can be challenging understanding the nuances of a different culture and of course a very different language, so it’s important for businesses to develop a strategy for dealing with these new markets and clients to make the most of the opportunities out there. Language capability is a great first step,’’ Coughlan said.
Massey University professor Paul Spoonley said Kiwi businesses needed to show greater respect for the country’s trade relationship with China.
New Zealand could not be a successful trading partner without cultural knowledge, he said.
‘‘Our future will increasingly be tied to China. We expect others to speak our language but we also need to learn theirs and go beyond that and understand their culture, too.’’
While there was a trade argument to delve into the Chinese culture, there was also an imminent domestic aspect to it, Spoonley said.
Of the 52,263 New Zealanders who can speak Mandarin, 6900 of them were born in New Zealand, up from 1953 in 2001.
Ministry of Education figures show the number of students learning Chinese in New Zealand schools is growing quickly, with 32,896 primary school-aged children learning the language in 2015, up from 24,143 the year before.
Aotea Gifts is one New Zealand business that has made learning Mandarin and the Chinese culture a priority.
Company director Donald Hanson said engaging with the culture ensured better customer service.
The family-owned business has eight stores around the country. Around half of its 150 staff are Mandarin speakers.
NZ China Council executive director Stephen Jacobi said tourism was another sector where businesses could do more to engage and communicate in Chinese. Visitors from China spent $1.4 billion in the year to June.
For the young generation of business people, learning the language was a great investment for the future, he said.
Businesses needed to also recognise te reo and other languages and cultures that were intrinsically linked to the country’s multicultural demographic.