New Zealand exporters should be targeting markets such as aspiring middle classes in China where people can afford to buy premium New Zealand produce such as wines, said New Zealand Agriculture Minister David Carter.

“The challenge we have is to make sure the Chinese middle class gets a taste for New Zealand wine, because that middle class is huge,” he told Winegrowers NZ’s national conference in South Island town of Blenheim on Friday.

“Of China’s 1.3 billion people, at least 250 million earn the same per capita income as the average New Zealander, so they can afford our premium products,” he said.

Carter told the conference that China was now New Zealand’s second-largest trading partner and that the free trade deal meant from the end of next year there would be no Chinese tariffs on New Zealand wine.

“Our exporters will have a significant advantage over international competitors who will continue to pay tariffs between 14 and 20 percent,” he said.

Over the next 40 years the world’s population was expected to increase from 6 billion to 9 billion people, he said.

“As a producer of premium products, our target will be the upper and middle classes — the 50 million people in the future that can afford, and are prepared to pay more, for high quality food and beverage that is backed by integrity and reputation,” he said.

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China’s only Muslim autonomous region is hoping to set up a free trade zone to expand two-way trade with Islamic countries, the local government said Friday.

“We are hoping to further trade and economic cooperation with the world’s Muslim community,” said Ma Fu, head of the commerce department in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

Ma said the regional government had worked out initial plans for a free trade zone with the Muslim countries, but did not elaborate on the plans or give a detailed timetable.

He said Ningxia region, where 36 percent of the 6.2 million people are Muslims, traditionally enjoyed cultural and trade relations with the Arabian countries.

In recent decades, the region has relied largely on the more developed economies — including the United States, Japan, Republic of Korea and the European countries — as its destination markets.

The global financial crisis of 2008, however, severely dented the region’s export earnings because of its reliance on these economies and caused a rethink about its overseas trade.

“We need to restructure our export markets and products,” said Ma, “and will explore new markets in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Central Asia.”

He said trade with these markets would include Muslim food and other products specific to Muslims.

By 2015, he said the region would foster 20 export-oriented manufacturers of Muslim products, including processed food and farm produce.

Ningxia, whose Muslim population is at least 10 percent of China’s 20 million Muslims, also hopes to attract investment from the Arab Leagues’s 22 member states.

In September, it will host a China-Arab Economic and Trade Forum.

The regional government has issued a plan to train more Arabic language professionals in the coming decade.

Last year, two-way trade between China and the Arab states hit 107.4 billion U.S. dollars, compared with 36.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2004.

China and Arab countries have relations dating back about 2,000 years ago. China has diplomatic ties with all 22 members of the Arab League.

MOU TO CEMENT TIES WITH CENTRAL ASIAN NEIGHBORS

Officials in southwest China’s Sichuan Province signed a memorandum of understanding Thursday on regional cooperation with five central Asian countries.

The MOU was signed between the Sichuan branch of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Kyrgyzstan and the Embassy of Tajikistan in China.

It covers diverse sectors for cooperation between China and the five central Asian countries, including Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

Sichuan Province has established trade and economic relations with all these countries in oil, gas, agriculture as well as service industries, said Chen Baoming, deputy secretary-general with the provincial government.

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Comparable net profits of 105 companies listed on China’s Nasdaq-style Growth Enterprise Market (GEM) rose 25.56 percent from a year earlier in the first half of the year, lagging far behind those on the country’s main boards.

H1 net profits of 1,044 companies on the main boards in Shanghai and Shenzhen surged by 47.8 percent. The GEM expansion was also far behind the 43-percent H1 growth of the country’s small and medium enterprises (SME) board, said Friday’s China Securities Journal.

Among the 105 GEM companies, H1 profits of 83 grew while the remaining 22 posted declines. Zhanjiang Guolian Aquatic Products Co., Ltd. was the only one reporting losses in the first half, according to the newspaper.

The total operating revenue of the 105 companies, among which 88 rose and 17 fell, stood at 18.23 billion yuan (about 2.68 billion U.S. dollars), up 27.08 percent from a year earlier.

On Oct. 30 last year, shares soared in a wild first day of trading on the long-awaited Nasdaq-style board, with all 28 listed small and medium-sized firms rocketing on fevered interest from investors. Trading in all shares on the ChiNext in Shenzhen was suspended at least once as market circuit-breakers in place to curb rampant speculation were tripped.

Unlike companies on the main board, GEM listings are small-sized start-ups, with considerable growth potential but high uncertainty. The rules for the delisting of GEM-listed companies are much harsher than the main board. Once they are forced to delist, investors will suffer huge losses.

Analysts have warned that the nascent GEM faces overvaluation challenges.

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