WELLINGTON, Feb. 17 -- New Zealand immigration authorities will begin fast-tracking visa applications for Chinese people traveling to recognized business events from next month, the government's Tourism New Zealand (TNZ) agency said Tuesday.

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed last month by TNZ, Immigration New Zealand and 12 business events travel agents in Shanghai would come into force on March 2, said TNZ general manager Asia David Craig.

"The aim of this MOU is to make conference and incentive trips more accessible to Chinese business travelers," Craig said in a statement.

The program would be launched in east and north China once the first group of 20 business events travel specialists had qualified.

The China MOU followed a similar process launched in India last year, which saw visitors traveling for recognized business events benefit from faster visa processing times and reduced paperwork requirements.

Since 2013, the New Zealand government had invested in upgrading and expanding business events facilities in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown with the goal of accommodating more than 7,000 business events visitors by 2018.