China business centre for Kiwi firms on way

A NEW ZEALAND centre for business and a cold storage facility for Kiwi products is set to open in China next year.

Chinese importing business ZN International Trade company wants to add more New Zealand food products to its portfolio and will invest $330million Chinese Yuan (about NZ$75m) in the New Zealand Centre, in the Chinese city of Xi’an, opening in June.

The company has been importing New Zealand products – Manuka honey, olive oil, Central Otago cherries, wood, Tuatara beer, beef and lamb – for the past six years and distributing them throughout China.

The company is also developing a $40m cold storage facility for meat it imports from various countries, including New Zealand. It will include a processing plant for beef and lamb. The warehouse, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2016, will be the largest automated cold store in Northwest China, storing 30,000 tonnes of meat and 200,000 bottles of imported red wine.

The idea behind the facility was to bypass the problem of imported goods sitting at coastal ports waiting on customs clearance.

Wellington businessman Charlie Zheng, of Cornerstone Partners, is a shareholder in ZN and has helped various Kiwi businesess get a foothold in China. His Xi’an-based father Qinhai Zheng was also involved.

The centre was a way for Zheng, who has been living in New Zealand for 15 years, to showcase his new home and develop further trade relationships between the two countries.

Wellington coffee company Mojo was able to open its first cafe in Xian on Saturday with help from Zheng and a ZN investment.

Mojo founder Steve Gianoutsosplanned to open at least three more coffee shops in Xi’an, then expand into Beijing and Shanghai. Others involved include Mark Keddell, owner of Wellington restaurant Matterhorn, Murdoch James wines founder Roger Fraser and Wilkins Farming managing director Michael Wilkins. he four-storey centre will include another Mojo, a New Zealand products supermarket, a restaurant run by Keddell, function hall and trade office.

Collette Devlin travelled to China with help from the Asia New Zealand Foundation.