New Zealand will expedite expanding its commodity retailing network in China, New Zealand Trade and Enterprises Regional Director, North Asia, Merv Stark said during a visit in Shanghai on Wednesday.

Mr. Stark said his country would stage a governmental food and beverage promotion program in Shanghai in May and by then, food and beverages from New Zealand, including meat, wine, dairy products and honey would be available in all key retailing shops across the city.

It will be first such promotion event ever hosted by the government of New Zealand in Asia.

In big Chinese cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, the food consumption structure of local residents has been improving fast. As conventional farmers' markets lose their absolute advantages, more and more consumers turn to new retailing channels such as hypermarkets.

The residents' demand for food quality has been improving, along with improved capability of enduring higher retailing prices, which is favorable to the market expansion of quality food from New Zealand, said a business person from New Zealand.

China is now New Zealand's fourth biggest global trading partner. New Zealand is the first Western country that has signed a World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement with China and is also the first developed country that has recognized China's market economic status.

Currently, the two countries have been negotiating over free trade agreements.

New Zealand exported 1.55 billion New Zealand dollars worth of commodities in the past year, of which, food and beverages made up 514 million New Zealand dollars and timber totaled 338 million New Zealand dollars.

China has also provided New Zealand with market opportunities in the fields of agrotechniques and education.

An estimate provided by New Zealand said the retailing food market in China had been expanding rapidly, and the growth rate in retail sales last year was 12.5 percent.

By the year 2010, the food market size in China will expand from the present 285 billion U.S. dollars to 456 billion U.S. dollars.

Wen Chin Powles, consul general of New Zealand's Consulate General in Shanghai, said China and New Zealand were economically complementary. New Zealand will provide China with quality raw materials and food, while China will provide New Zealand with commodities it can not produce, the diplomat said.

Source: Xinhua