New Assistant Director for the New Zealand China Council

The New Zealand China Council is pleased to announce the appointment of Summer (Lu) Xia as its Assistant Director.

Summer hails from China’s Sichuan Province.  After commencing her career at a PR agency in Shanghai she moved to work in the tourism sector in Kenya for several years, before migrating to New Zealand.  Summer has been based in Tauranga since 2016, gaining business experience as an account manager and marketing executive in the manuka honey export sector.

Summer holds degrees from China and Japan and has completed a post-graduate diploma in tourism and hospitality management at the University of Waikato.  She speaks fluent Chinese, English and Japanese, and has studied Te Reo Māori to intermediate level.

Executive Director Alistair Crozier says Summer’s diverse professional experience and multilingual skillset will bring exciting energy to the Council.

“Summer’s international experience enables her to place the New Zealand-China relationship in the wider global context” says Alistair.

“With COVID restrictions now phased out in both countries the Council is looking forward to a busy and dynamic year of re-engagement.  Summer will lead a number of our workstreams which contribute to a balanced and resilient bilateral relationship”.

Summer will be relocating to Auckland for the role, commencing on 26 April.  She replaces Jane Yang who played a critical role to advance the work of the Council for over five years, including during the difficult COVID period.  We thank Jane for all her help.