Customs Minister to meet Chinese counterpart

Customs Minister Nicky Wagner will travel to Beijing this week to discuss a joint work programme with her Chinese counterpart.

Ms Wagner and Minister of the General Administration of China Customs, Mr Yu Guangzhou, will discuss a wide range of topics, including joint capacity building, trade facilitation and information exchange, data analytics, officer and training exchanges, as well as enforcement activities such as joint operations, targeting and threat assessments.

“New Zealand and China Customs enjoy a strong relationship and work collaboratively to ensure effective border management in both countries,” Ms Wagner says.

“New Zealand was the first developed country to establish a Free Trade Agreement with China, creating mutually beneficial concessions in trade and deepened the relationship between our countries.

“China is also New Zealand’s second largest visitor market, and has made a valued contribution to the strong growth in international visitor arrivals and expenditure over the last few years.” 

Ms Wagner will also visit the Shanghai Customs College.

“I look forward to meeting Mr Yu and visiting the Shanghai Customs College.  This visit is an excellent opportunity to reinforce the strength and success of our bilateral relationship, but also to explore pressing issues, including the impact growing ecommerce trade and global passenger volumes are having on our borders,” Ms Wagner says.