New consul-general for Shanghai

New Zealand’s next Consul-General to Shanghai will be Pam Dunn, Acting Foreign Affairs Minister Jim Sutton said today.

Shanghai is China’s largest urban centre, with a population of almost 17 million. It sits at the head of the Yangtze River valley, home to a third of China’s population and the source of 40% of the country’s agricultural and industrial output. Almost half of New Zealand’s exports to China are destined for this region.

Mr Sutton said Shanghai had experienced double digit GDP growth for more than a decade and was gradually becoming an economic hub of North Asia.

“The city and its hinterland have some of the country’s highest levels of disposable income.

“Shanghai and the broader Yangtze Delta region are an important destination for New Zealand businesses involved in China, both through investment and trade. People-to-people links with this economically lively area are also growing rapidly, particularly through education exchanges and tourism.

“The Consul-General in Shanghai fosters a wide range of New Zealand links with Shanghai and the Yangtze Delta in the commercial, political, cultural and education sectors.”

Ms Dunn takes up her position in the latter part of this year, replacing Clare Fearnley, who is returning to Wellington. She is currently Deputy Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Human Rights Division. She has served in the Ministry’s Beijing embassy in the late 1990s and speaks Mandarin.

Prior to joining Foreign Affairs last year, Ms Dunn worked as an analyst at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and in the Prime Minister’s Department.