John Cochrane

John Cochrane is the Managing Director of Facteon Group, a wholly owned Haier subsidiary that produces bespoke factory production machinery for global manufacturers. John is also the Chairman of the New Zealand China Trade Association, the longest standing and largest NZ association facilitating economic and trade investments between New Zealand and China.

Active in China since 2002, in both the private and public sectors, John was resident in Beijing for several months each year from 2005 to 2011, and then lived full time in Guangzhou from December 2011 to January 2017.

During John’s first decade in China he was responsible for the creation and leadership of a successful branch office employing 15 local staff in diverse roles. John led the local team to negotiate sales agreements with several large Chinese SOEs in diverse industries, including power generation, mining, and steel production.

In December 2011 John became the NZTE Trade Commissioner and Deputy Consul-General in Guangzhou where he had the opportunity to work closely in an advisory capacity with over 100 New Zealand businesses and assisted them to achieve $145 million of new revenue during his posting.

Upon his return to New Zealand John joined ATEED in Auckland (now Tataki Auckland Unlimited), the City Council’s economic development agency, where he continued to focus on China-related matters. In December 2018 the private sector called again, and John joined Facteon where he continues today.