New Zealand needs to do more in grasping business opportunities in the fast-growing cities of China's interior, said a New Zealand trade expert Tuesday.

Andrew Grant, who is the managing director of management consultancy firm McKinsey & Company, said New Zealand might risk being left behind as other countries quickly fill the business gap.

Grant said firms need to stop talking about doing business in China, and travel there and establish a presence.

He advised businesses to forget about eastern seaboard cities like Shanghai where competition is intense.

Grant said New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE), a trade agency, and New Zealand firms should be in growing second tier cities in China's interior, which he sees as the new business frontier.

NZTE said it is looking at making a push into interior provinces of China, for which it hopes to get board approval by the end of the year.

The agency will not name any particular city or cities.

It already has offices in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Source: Xinhua