New Zealand flexes tech muscle in China

A delegation of New Zealand tech firms will exhibit at China's annual hi-tech fair this weekend to raise the country's innovative profile, said New Zealand's economic minister on Thursday.

New Zealand is mainly known in China as an exporter of dairy products, but is seeking exposure for its technology and service sectors, as bilateral trade grows.

"There is a wider story in New Zealand," said Minister for Economic Development Steven Joyce.

The minister added that New Zealand's innovation strength has been historically linked to Australia, Europe and the United States, rather than to Asia, where trade ties focus on food and beverage.

To expand trade beyond dairy, wood and education, eight New Zealand companies will attend the China Hi-tech Fair, which will open on Saturday in Shenzhen.

The fair will be a good opportunity to promote New Zealand's high tech firms and bolster relations with their Chinese counterparts, the minister said.

Meanwhile, the two countries will provide 1.4 million U.S. dollars in funding for joint research in water, food safety and cancer, he added.

Five years after China and New Zealand signed a free trade pact, bilateral trade reached 16.53 billion New Zealand dollars (13.62 billion U.S.dollars) in the twelve months ending September this year, an increase of 75 percent over the previous 12-month period ending September 2012.

A three-fold increase in New Zealand exports to China during the same period also ended a two-decade-long trade deficit with China.

Despite an August precautionary recall by New Zealand dairy manufacturer Fonterra, dairy exports to China remains resilient, hitting 802 million New Zealand dollars (661 U.S.dollars) in the third quarter, up 57 percent from the same quarter of 2012.