Statistics
The New Zealand China Council NZ China Dashboard provides key statistics about the bilateral relationship:
- Trade flows between New Zealand and China
- Imports and exports of key commodities
- Investment flows between New Zealand and China
- Education
- Tourism
- Chinese language acquisition in New Zealand
The following interactive charts put New Zealand’s relationship with China into perspective against other major partners.
New Zealand's Goods Exports: Top Markets (NZ$b per year)
New Zealand exports $20 billion worth of goods to China (year to December 2022), over double that of our next biggest export market, Australia.
New Zealand's Goods Imports: Top Sources (NZ$b per year)
China remains our largest source of imported goods, at over NZ$18b (year to December 2022), followed by Australia, USA, South Korea and Japan.
New Zealand's Share of China's Goods Imports: Top 10 (2021)
NZ supplies more than half the dairy products that China imports from the world. New Zealand also supplies a significant amount of the wood, meat and fruit that China imports.
China's Share of New Zealand's Goods Imports: Top 10 (2022)
Many of the goods that New Zealand imports are supplied primarily by China, such as clothing, toys and games and furniture.
Foreign Investment in New Zealand (Stock of FDI, NZ$m)
Foreign investment from China, including Hong Kong reached $11.5b (year to March 2022). This is well below our largest investor, Australia (at $69b), and is relatively low considering the size of the trade relationship, people to people links and other connections.
International Fee Paying Students in New Zealand
There were over 15,000 fee-paying students from China studying in New Zealand in 2021. China thus remains the largest source of students, followed by India, South Korea, Japan and Viet Nam.
Visitor Numbers to New Zealand: Top Sources
Prior to COVID (2019) China was New Zealand’s second largest source of visitors behind Australia. In January 2023 it ranked 7th , but market recovery is expected now that borders have re-opened.
NZ Secondary Students Learning a Foreign Language
The number of secondary level students learning Chinese in New Zealand has declined and remains below the number that study French, Japanese or Spanish.
NZ Primary Students Learning a Foreign Language
There has been a big increase in the number of primary level students learning Chinese in New Zealand in recent years, with nearly 65,000 primary students currently studying Chinese.
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