NZINC. and the Auckland Business Chamber present the 12th China Business Summit, New Zealand’s premier platform for exploring the economic, commercial and political dimensions of the New Zealand-China relationship.

New Zealand exported almost NZ$20 billion in goods to China in the year to December 2025 – close to double the combined total of our next two largest goods markets. China has been our top export destination for more than a decade, and remains our largest source of imports at $18.5 billion, our third-largest source of international visitors, and a significant investor.

The 2026 Middle East crisis, particularly tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, has exposed the vulnerability of both China and New Zealand to oil supply disruptions, driving efforts towards greater energy independence and accelerating the uptake of green technologies.

China’s leadership in this space is increasingly visible in New Zealand: Chinese EVs are a growing presence in our new vehicle market, Chinese-manufactured panels underpin much of our solar build-out, and Chinese AI models are increasingly part of the business toolkit.

This is an environment where New Zealand’s key exporters – from agribusiness, tourism to services – face higher fuels costs and supply chain challenges to service key markets like China.

Yet the environment around the relationship has rarely been more contested. Washington’s tariff agenda has reshaped global trade flows, with measures on Chinese goods reaching extraordinary levels in 2025 before being walked back through successive truces.

Beijing prepares to host APEC in Shenzhen later this year, and the Luxon government continues to navigate closer alignment with traditional security partners alongside its commercial commitments to China. For a small, trade-dependent nation, engaging thoughtfully when geopolitics, security and the economic rulebook are all in motion at once, is the defining challenge.

In a year when the rules of the game are being rewritten in real time, this is an unmissable event for business and political leaders looking for clarity and a strategic edge.

FEATURING

Hon Todd McClay

Raymond Yeung

Professor James Laurenceson

Carrie Hurihanganui

Ambassador Wang Xiaolong

Prime Minister’s Address
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will open the Summit with reflections on his upcoming business mission to China – his first as Prime Minister. Drawing on his deep commercial experience with China, he will outline how his Government intends to navigate a complex relationship while unlocking new business opportunities.
Geopolitics, Trade and China’s Outlook
From Washington to Wellington, the impact of US-China tensions is being felt across global markets. Ambassador Wang Xiaolong will offer Beijing’s perspective on economic opportunity, technological change, and China’s evolving engagement with New Zealand. In a special session, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Andy Browne and economist Raymond Yeung will decode the latest in the US-China dynamic.
Strategy from the Top
Leading New Zealand exporters, including senior leaders from Air New Zealand, Zespri, Silver Fern Farms, and Fonterra, will share how they’re adapting their China strategies in the face of ongoing disruption. Meanwhile, on-the-ground voices from China will reveal what success looks like in 2025, and what lessons matter most for Kiwi businesses looking to grow.
Innovation and Disruption
Nick Mowbray will showcase Zuru Tech’s bold new venture to revolutionise how the world builds. With its BIM-powered platform DreamCatcher and fully automated production process, Zuru Tech is disrupting global construction – a vision born from the Mowbray siblings’ 20-year journey of entrepreneurship in China. His keynote underscores how Kiwi innovation can scale globally from within China’s dynamic ecosystem.
Diversification and the New Competition
Mark Tanner of China Skinny will challenge the assumption that India or ASEAN are easy alternatives to China. He’ll explore what diversification looks like, how Chinese companies are outpacing competitors, and why China’s lower-tier cities may offer more untapped value than many realise.
Brand, People and Perceptions
From soft power to trade and student travel, reputation matters. The Summit will explore how New Zealand can reshape perceptions in the China market, through language, cultural connection, and storytelling. Sessions include David Downs on the latest China perception research, Lisa Li and Professor Dawn Freshwater on tourism and education recovery, and Pania Tyson-Nathan, Jo Coughlan, and Xiaoying Fu on the enduring power of people-to-people ties.

The 12th China Business Summit convenes senior policymakers, business leaders and strategic thinkers from across government, industry and academia to make sense of this moment – with insights from across the agribusiness, aviation, services and trade sectors.

It provides a great opportunity for delegates to network and engage in strategic conversions that will inform the direction for New Zealand’s future with China.

AGENDA

6.30AM – REGISTRATION

7.05AM – MIHI WHAKATAU

Renata Blair, Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei (tbc)

7.10AM – CALL TO ORDER

MC: Tim McCready

7.15AM – WELCOME TO THE 12TH CHINA BUSINESS SUMMIT

Summit Chair: Fran O’Sullivan, Managing Director, NZINC.

7.20AM – PRIME MINISTER’S OPENING ADDRESS WITH Q&A

Rt Hon Christopher Luxon, Prime Minister of New Zealand (Expected)

Christopher Luxon’s insights as prime minister into the challenges facing Governments and businesses alike beyond the impact of the fuel crisis will be invaluable. Particularly, as he plays that through to New Zealand’s relationship with its major trading partner, China, and the mutual inter-dependencies that are evolving in complex times.

Moderator: Fran O’Sullivan, Summit Chair

8.00AM – VIEW FROM THE TOP

In a time of constant disruption, New Zealand’s leading exporters are recalibrating their China strategies. In this conversation, leading CEOs will share how their companies and organisations are navigating the fuels crisis, where China fits in their strategies and their outlook as global supply chains come under pressure.

Richard Allen, CEO, Fonterra
Carrie Hurihanganui, CEO, Auckland Airport
Nikhil Ravishankar, CEO, Air New Zealand
Ray Smith, CEO, Ministry for Primary Industries

Moderator: Fran O’Sullivan, Summit Co-Chair

8.50AM – FIRESIDE CHAT – DEEP DIVE INTO CRISIS

Cabinet Ministers Todd McClay and Shane Jones will be hosted by Auckland Business Chamber CEO Simon Bridges for a fireside chat. This will be a deep dive into the Government’s response to global fuel disruptions caused by Middle East conflicts – including a focus on strategic resilience, emergency diesel reserves, and a phased national rationing plan to protect the economy. This coupled with the maintenance of New Zealand’s strong links with China and an opportunity to scope how New Zealand business can leverage China’s technological and infrastructure developments.

Trade, Agriculture and Investment Minister Hon Todd McClay
Associate Energy Minister Hon Shane Jones

Moderator: Simon Bridges, Summit Co-Chair

9.20AM – YEAR OF THE FIREHORSE

According to Chinese astrology, the Year of the Fire Horse occurs every 60 years. It is believed that the Fire Horse heralds an energetic year, with major societal shifts. As China races ahead in AI and advanced technology, it is also repositioning itself as a safe haven market and commodity anchor in a volatile global economy.

This session examines the hard economics behind the geopolitics: how US export bans on Nvidia style chips are distorting supply chains and pricing, how black and grey markets are emerging, and how Beijing’s push to lead global AI governance is tied to securing long term growth, investment, and influence across the Global South.

To unpack what this changing landscape means for trade, capital allocation, and business strategy in New Zealand and the wider region the summit is pleased to welcome back Raymond Yeung, Chief Economist Greater China ANZ, who leads an award-winning China research team based in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Moderator: Fran O’Sullivan

9.50AM – HE Dr Wang Xiaolong, Ambassador to New Zealand

Ambassador Dr Wang Xiaolong will share his perspective on China’s economic outlook and the evolving nature of China–New Zealand engagement. As both countries respond to new challenges and opportunities across trade, innovation, and technological development, the Ambassador will outline areas for continued collaboration and reflect on how the relationship can remain resilient and forward-focused in the years ahead.

Moderator: Simon Bridges, Summit Co-Chair

10.15AM – Warren Hu, CEO, Bank of China New Zealand and Chair of the China Chamber of Commerce in New Zealand (Invited)

10.30AM – MORNING TEA

11.00AM – KEYNOTE: DONG SUN, SECRETARY FOR INNOVATION, TECHNOLOGY AND INDUSTRY OF THE HKSAR GOVERNMENT – “INNOVATION IN AN ERA OF GEOPOLITICAL COMPLEXITY”.

Professor Dong Sun will outline how Hong Kong is positioning itself as an international innovation and technology hub at the centre of the Greater Bay Area, linking global capital and research with the manufacturing and technology powerhouse of Shenzhen and the wider Chinese mainland.

His address will explore opportunities for New Zealand companies, universities and research institutes to connect into Hong Kong’s innovation ecosystem through platforms including Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company and the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, with collaboration opportunities spanning artificial intelligence, biotech, smart cities, fintech, advanced manufacturing and green technology.

Moderator: Simon Bridges, Summit Co-Chair

11.40AM – NAVIGATING GREAT POWER COMPETITION

As Xi Jinping and Donald Trump redefine the global strategic landscape, New Zealand and Australian businesses are being drawn into a more contested and unpredictable Indo-Pacific. From Taiwan and the South China Sea to tariffs, sanctions, trade coercion and “weaponised interdependence”, both Beijing and Washington are reshaping the rules of commerce, security and global influence.

This session cuts through the rhetoric of “Great Power Competition” to examine the real risks, pressures and opportunities facing businesses in an era of strategic rivalry, economic nationalism and geopolitical uncertainty.

Keynote Speaker: James Laurenceson, director of the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney.

Discussant: Sam Sachdeva, Associate Editor at Newsroom NZ and author of The China Tightrope: Navigating New Zealand’s Relationship with a World Superpower.

Moderator: Suz Jessep, Executive Director of the Asia New Zealand Foundation

12.30PM – LUNCH & NETWORKING

1.30PM – KEYNOTE: GREEN TECH UPTAKE

1.55PM – STRATEGY DEEP DIVE

We will hear from New Zealand business leaders who have been on the ground in China on how they are rising to the challenge of operating in a rapidly changing domestic environment. This session – which is a highlight of the summit – will be led and moderated by Steve Jones, NZTE’s Trade Commissioner in Shanghai.

Steve Jones will open the Deep Dive session alongside Nicholas Calder, Executive Director of the New Zealand Business Roundtable in China, who will share NZBRIC’s latest survey results.

Steve Jones will then talk strategy with the leaders of three NZ companies engaged in the China space.

3.00PM – AFTERNOON TEA

3.15PM – INVESTMENT PANEL (tbc)

3.45PM – NEXT STEPS

Hon Louise Upston, Minister of Tourism (Invited)
Hon Damien O’Connor, Labour trade spokesperson and former Trade Minister.
HE Mayor Wayne Brown (Invited)
Lisa Li, CEO, China Travel Service

4.35PM – SUMMIT SUMMARY

Alistair Crozier, Executive Director, New Zealand China Council, joins Summit Co-Chair Simon Bridges.

4.40PM – PRIZE DRAW & SUMMIT CLOSE

Prize Draw courtesy of Air New Zealand, Silver Fern Farms and BYD.

Shaughan Woodcock, Event Director, Auckland Business Chamber
TBC Executive, Air New Zealand
Tim McCready, Summit MC

4.45PM – SUMMIT CLOSE

JOIN US

0Days

EARLY BIRD PRICING – UNTIL 26 MAY

Single Ticket	Table of Eight
$470+GST	$3600+GST

PRICING AFTER 26 MAY

Single Ticket	Table of Eight
$520+GST	$3960+GST

Book Your Accommodation

Book your Auckland accommodation for the 2026 China Business Summit through our host hotel Cordis, Auckland and take advantage of their exclusive offer.

FEATURING

Speakers

Fran O’Sullivan ONZM

Rt Hon Christopher Luxon

Richard Allen

Carrie Hurihanganui

Nikhil Ravishankar

Ray Smith

Hon Todd McClay

Hon Shane Jones

Simon Bridges

Raymond Yeung

Ambassador Wang Xiaolong

Warren Hu

Prof Dong Sun

Professor James Laurenceson

Sam Sachdeva

Suzannah Jessep

Steve Jones

Nicholas Calder

Louise Upston

Hon Damien O’Connor

Wayne Brown

Lisa Li MNZM

Alistair Crozier

Shaughan Woodcock

Rēnata Blair

Tim McCready

AGENDA

6.30AM – REGISTRATION

7.05AM – MIHI WHAKATAU

7.10AM – CALL TO ORDER

7.15AM – WELCOME TO THE 12TH CHINA BUSINESS SUMMIT

7.20AM – PRIME MINISTER’S OPENING ADDRESS WITH Q&A

8.00AM – VIEW FROM THE TOP

8.50AM – FIRESIDE CHAT – DEEP DIVE INTO CRISIS

9.20AM – YEAR OF THE FIREHORSE

9.50AM – HE Dr Wang Xiaolong, Ambassador to New Zealand

10.15AM – Warren Hu, CEO, Bank of China New Zealand and Chair of the China Chamber of Commerce in New Zealand (Invited)

10.30AM – MORNING TEA

11.00AM – KEYNOTE: DONG SUN, SECRETARY FOR INNOVATION, TECHNOLOGY AND INDUSTRY OF THE HKSAR GOVERNMENT – “INNOVATION IN AN ERA OF GEOPOLITICAL COMPLEXITY”.

11.40AM – NAVIGATING GREAT POWER COMPETITION

12.30PM – LUNCH & NETWORKING

1.30PM – KEYNOTE: GREEN TECH UPTAKE

1.55PM – STRATEGY DEEP DIVE

3.00PM – AFTERNOON TEA

3.15PM – INVESTMENT PANEL (tbc)

3.45PM – NEXT STEPS

4.35PM – SUMMIT SUMMARY

4.40PM – PRIZE DRAW & SUMMIT CLOSE

4.45PM – SUMMIT CLOSE

JOIN US

EARLY BIRD PRICING – UNTIL 26 MAY

PRICING AFTER 26 MAY

Book Your Accommodation

Cordis, Auckland

Contact

Use the below form for any queries regarding the summit: