By Don McKinnon / 14 August, 2017
We like to think we have a great relationship with our No 1 trading partner, but we need to up our game.

There’s good reason to feel like everything is rosy when it comes to our relationship with China. But standing still could be the undoing of us.
Even if you visit China several times a year, you can be staggered by the changes between trips. New airports spring up seemingly overnight, new bullet trains connect the country’s booming cities thousands of kilometres apart and more ring roads circle the big cities. From Beijing and Shanghai to Guangzhou and Chongqing, people from every corner of the world are there to sell something or buy something. From traders and businesspeople right through to prime ministers and presidents, all are beating a path to make known their interest in trade and investment.

And just as China has transformed, so have New Zealanders’ attitudes towards this vast and fascinating country. When I first visited China as Foreign Minister in 1991, all the New Zealand media wanted to know was what was I going to say about Taiwan and Tibet. These two issues dominated then in the same way trade dominates today. 

Of course, New Zealand and China will never see eye to eye on everything. When I was Foreign Minister, I put in place, with the agreement of the Chinese authorities, annual discussions specifically about human rights, and these talks continue today. It is important we maintain our ability and willingness to assert our position when the need arises. This has been the pattern of New Zealand’s relations with global superpowers for the past generation.

The attention afforded to China is to be expected given the huge global trade and investment figures emerging from its economy. Our two-way trade has soared from about $8 billion in 2007 to more than $20 billion today, and the upward trend continues.

As China’s global economic significance rises, its international influence grows. Some commentators like to compare 21st-century China to the UK in the 19th century and the US in the 20th. Yes, there are similarities: countries that become wealthy often spread their influence for strategic purposes or by following their investments. But there is a difference – the British Empire expanded with the motive of economic gain. The US extended its reach in large part for geopolitical influence.

China’s expansion is based on the need for raw materials and food as it seeks to feed and lift its 1.5 billion-strong population out of poverty. Hence, it is investing heavily in places with large agricultural and resource bases, such as in South America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Africa – and also here in New Zealand.

Enormous contrast
But to get a true sense of scale, let’s look more closely at the figures: China is our No 1 trading partner, whereas we are China’s 43rd. We get 20% of our imports from the Chinese; they get 0.5% from us. They provide 1.1% of our foreign investment and we provide 0.1% of theirs. They supply 33% of our foreign students and we make up 0.5% of theirs. They are 35% of our tourists and we are 0.3% of theirs.

Infrastructure also gives us a sense of just how tiny we are compared with China. Auckland’s Waterview Tunnel opened here this month to great excitement; it’s 2.4km long. Meanwhile, China is planning an undersea tunnel connecting the island of Hainan to the mainland whose length will be at least 120km. Also on the drawing board is a tunnel under Mt Everest linking Lhasa in Tibet and Kathmandu in Nepal.

These comparisons highlight the wealth and tremendous spread of China’s interests and, conversely, the number of countries beating a path to its door. They also underscore just how intense the competition is facing New Zealand.

It’s easy to talk about the special relationship we have with China. It’s true we have had some notable successes, such as being the first Western nation it signed a free-trade deal with. But as with all relationships, what you are doing tomorrow is more important than what you did yesterday.

Of course, diplomacy can go only so far in forging relationships between nations. True and resilient bonds are forged between ordinary citizens face to face, kanohi ki te kanohi. We’re at the pivot point where we must move beyond trade and diplomacy to drive the relationship forward.

What needs to be done
We should regard education, tourism and immigration as three human pillars on which we will build the next phase of the relationship.

Every Chinese student who chooses to be educated here invariably creates another ambassador for us. The number of Chinese students in the US, the UK and other English-speaking countries dwarfs the figure here, so we must ensure the experience they have in New Zealand is world-class. Also, we are far too light on the number of Kiwi secondary school kids learning Mandarin.

The same goes for Chinese tourists, who are undeniably from a different culture than tourists from Australia, Europe or North America. Our tourism sector can and should become far more China-literate, in everything from culturally appropriate food and accommodation to e-commerce and social media.

We can also do more to make families who migrate from China to New Zealand feel welcome and valued. Their children will go through our education system, become All Blacks supporters, talk like Kiwis and think like Kiwis. They will be able to penetrate the Chinese markets with all the familiarity of my grandparents’ generation feeling comfortable in the UK.

We can never close ourselves off from the enormous impact China is having on us now and will have on us in the future. For the sake of our children and future generations, we must know China more comprehensively and show its leaders and people how much we value our relationship.

Sir Don McKinnon is chairman of the New Zealand China Council. This article was first published in the July 29, 2017 issue of the New Zealand Listener.