New Zealand's trade surplus with China widens: statistics

WELLINGTON - New Zealand's trade surplus with China was NZ$2 billion ($1.19 billion) in the June 2023 quarter, according to the statistics department Stats NZ on Monday.

Total goods and services exports to China were valued at NZ$5.8 billion ($3.45 billion) in the June 2023 quarter, with imports valued at NZ$3.8 billion ($2.26 billion), Stats NZ said.

"New Zealand usually has a trade surplus for goods and services with China," International Trade Manager at Stats NZ Alasdair Allen said, adding this is increasingly driven by trade in goods.

Total goods exports to China were valued at NZ$5.4 billion ($3.21 billion), with imports valued at NZ$3.6 billion ($2.14 billion), Allen said, adding over the past five years, there have only been three quarterly goods deficits with China.

In the June 2023 quarter, New Zealand's largest goods export commodities to China were milk powder, butter, and cheese; meat; logs, wood, and wood articles; fruit; and preparations of milk, cereals, flour, and starch which includes infant formula, he said.

In the June 2023 quarter, the largest goods import commodities from China were electrical machinery and equipment; mechanical machinery and equipment; vehicles, parts, and accessories; furniture, furnishings, and light fittings; and plastic and plastic articles, Allen said.

From this list of commodities, compared with the June 2022 quarter, the imports for vehicles, parts, and accessories have risen, he said, adding electric car imports from China have been increasing in recent periods.

Travel exports made up 85 percent of total services exports to China in the June 2023 quarter, he said.