Interview: Fundamental positive China-New Zealand ties benefit businesses, consumers, says Fonterra Greater China CEO

SHANGHAI, June 14 (Xinhua) -- Fonterra, like many New Zealand companies, has benefited from the "fundamental positive relationship" between New Zealand and China, and more market potential is being tapped, said a regional CEO of the dairy giant.

"As true business partners, these two countries have really worked close together for what are the benefits to each other," Teh-han Chow, Greater China CEO of Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

A dairy co-operative owned by thousands of farming families, Fonterra started operating in China in 1973 and has grown with China since then.

"In the early 1970s, food service was basically servicing hotels. As China has developed, it has gone beyond that, we've seen a lot of increase in tea shops, restaurants, and bakeries," said Chow.

China is the largest and the most important market for Fonterra, representing about a third of its global volume, he said, adding that there is "a great opportunity for us to serve China even more."

"Innovation becomes an important part of our strategy to continue to grow in China, because China is moving at a very rapid pace in terms of consumer sophistication and demand. The consumers are exposed to different new products every day, and they want to try new things and new experiences," Chow said.

The regional CEO noted that China, over the years, has opened up more and more and has welcomed foreign businesses into the market, and "the ease of doing business in China has continued to improve."

"We feel that we have a very fair playing field, and we're able to offer really good products that consumers want. And I think that the environment is really good for that," he told Xinhua.

The "fundamental positive relationship that New Zealand and China have" would allow for a lot more opportunities in the largest consumer market in the world, he said.

The partnership between the two countries has also "facilitated a really good free trade environment, which is exemplified by the FTA," Chow added.

China signed an FTA with New Zealand in April 2008, which came into force in October of the same year. An upgraded version of the agreement came into effect in April 2022, with the two sides striving to push trade and investment to a new level.