The signing ceremony of the MOU was witnessed by New Zealand Prime Minister, Rt Hon John Key, and Alibaba Group’s Founder and Executive Chairman, Jack Ma, soon after their keynote speeches at an event held by the China Entrepreneur Club, the premier business leader platform in China.

The cooperation between Alibaba and NZTE will foster greater trade opportunities for New Zealand businesses seeking to enter the vast Chinese consumer market, by leveraging services and platforms offered by Alibaba’s ecosystem.

The MOU aims to broaden Alibaba’s existing partnership with NZTE and is a significant step in establishing a closer cooperation to promote trade and online commerce between China and New Zealand.

Under the MOU, the parties will explore different collaboration opportunities, including Alibaba providing support for New Zealand companies to enter the Chinese consumer market through its various e-commerce channels, while NZTE will assist local companies to understand and optimize the opportunities Alibaba’s ecosystem offers in terms of business growth in China.

“We are excited to extend our cooperation with the New Zealand Government by collaborating with NZTE to support local businesses to enter China through Alibaba’s platforms,” said Maggie Zhou, the newly appointed Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand, who also represented Alibaba at the MOU signing ceremony.

“With our strong networks in China and expertise in e-commerce, we will enable Chinese consumers to benefit from the premium products and fresh foods that New Zealand businesses can offer.”

Peter Chrisp, Chief Executive of NZTE, said: “New Zealand businesses are already using Alibaba’s channels to sell a wide range of products including dairy, meat, seafood, fruit, wine, beverage, cereal, skincare and health supplements.

By providing dedicated services for New Zealand products, this new arrangement offers significant opportunities for New Zealand businesses to reach more consumers as well as advocating New Zealand’s reputation as a place of open spaces, open hearts and open minds.”

Alibaba and its wider ecosystem will offer New Zealand businesses a wide range of services to help cultivate opportunities in China via its major e-commerce platforms.

These key services will enable merchants to sell into China through retail (B2C) or wholesale (B2B) platforms, cross-promote tourism between China and New Zealand, and provide seamless payment solutions to both consumers and merchants.