New Zealand China Council Podcast

This podcast with business leader Wu Zhen (Magna International), in collaboration with the Asia New Zealand Foundation, is for anyone interested in sustainability trends in the China market in 2026: from marketing EVs in China to wider consumer tastes and trends, tips for NZ exporters, and renewable energy evolution, it’s a chance to hear from a leader at the heart of China’s remarkable ongoing transformation. Thank you to ANZF’s Ethan Jones for facilitating.

It can be hard making sense of a spectrum of economic indicators in China these days: is the economy firing or spluttering, and what’s the mood amongst New Zealand companies in the thick of things? Each year the NZ Business Roundtable in China (NZBRiC) conducts a survey of kiwi business mood, performance and outlook in China. In this podcast NZBRiC executive director Nick Caldwell walks us through the latest survey data, and the recommendations that have flowed from the results. Nothing beats boots-on-the-ground insights!

China has made a firm decision to prioritise the development and implementation of AI, as a core tech pillar for its next stage of socio-economic development. But we hear very little about China’s advancements, achievements and challenges. In June 2026 our Council joined with AI Forum New Zealand and Tech New Zealand for a one-week, deep-dive visit to four cities in China, to look at AI and robotics under development and in daily use. In this podcast, delegation members Blake Harkness, Ernestynne Walsh and Michael Murphy share their visit impressions, reflections and surprises with our executive director Alistair Crozier.

Currently over 33% of New Zealand’s international students are from China, totaling almost 30,000 students in 2024. The lifelong connections these links create have helped to fuel the bilateral relationship in many other ways.

But it’s also a challenging sector: Evolving Chinese student preferences and choices, an increased focus on complex in-China education delivery, risk vs opportunity calculations for research collaboration, and a huge imbalance in the number of kiwi students heading to China (and support New Zealand offers to them) are amongst many sectoral issues worth deeper reflection.

In March 2026 our Council released a comprehensive research report on NZ-China education relationship, titled Learning to Make a Difference. This podcast is a recording of the online event to launch the report, featuring author Rebecca Needham and a panel of senior international education experts. The report itself, with two smaller companion reports, is also available on our website under the ‘Initiatives’ -> ‘Publications’ tab.

The Schwarzman Scholars Programme offers an unparalleled chance to study global affairs for a year at Tsinghua University in Beijing, taught by and studying alongside some of the world’s best and brightest. Yet few New Zealanders have participated. Jamie Wood is one who has. In this podcast Jamie talks about her experiences, and the windows into China and the world opened through the programme; as well as her next career move, with an AI and robotics-focused Chinese investment fund.