Business bolsters Shanghai link with NZ little sister

WELLINGTON - One of New Zealand's most enduring sister city relationships with China is set to boost bilateral trade links with major business support, says a New Zealand official.

A high-level six-member delegation from the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress will arrive in Dunedin, the second largest city of New Zealand's South Island, to mark the 20th anniversary of the sister-city link this week.

Top 10 trading partners of the Chinese mainland

Top 10 investors to the Chinese mainland

Dunedin City Council business development advisor of international relations Margo Reid told Xinhua Monday that the link was becoming a major business driver for the city and the surrounding Otago region.

The city was in talks with the national carrier, Air New Zealand, which operates a regular Auckland-Shanghai service, on building possible supporting services, Reid said in a telephone interview.

"We're starting to get into the tourism arena. Air New Zealand is certainly very interested in the Shanghai market and understands that Dunedin-Shanghai relationship is important and so we've been talking to each other about how we can actually benefit from that," said Reid.

Air New Zealand representatives would also join a Dunedin city mayoral delegation to Shanghai, led by Mayor Dave Cull, in October in the hope of building greater business links with the Chinese metropolis, she said.

The Shanghai delegation, which would be in Dunedin from Tuesday to Thursday, followed "a lot more focused" relationship as a result of an updated sister city memorandum of understanding agreed last year.

"The relationship is a lot more detailed in the outcomes. We're certainly making great strides in education on both sides. That's a real area of strength," Reid said.

Both cities were thriving centers of excellence in education and the sister city link had been bolstered by a growing number of "sister school" relationships among high schools as well as university exchanges supported by a Dunedin mayoral scholarship program.