Hong Kong’s Trade and Economic Relationship with New Zealand

(as at May 2022)

(a) Points to Note

  1. In 2021, New Zealand was Hong Kong’s 40th largest trading partner.

  2. Bilateral trade in goods between Hong Kong and New Zealand amounted to HK$9.7 billion (US$1.2 billion) in 2021. The average annual growth rate was 2.2% from 2017 to 2021.

  3. In 20211, Hong Kong was the world’s 6th largest trading entity in merchandise trade while New Zealand ranked 60th.

  4. Hong Kong was New Zealand’s 20th largest trading partner, 9th largest export market and 45th largest source of imports in 20212.

  5. In 2021, HK$6.1 billion3 (US$0.8 billion) worth of trade between New Zealand and the Mainland of China was routed through Hong Kong, representing around 3.1%4 of the total trade between New Zealand and the Mainland.

(b) Summary of Hong Kong’s Trade with New Zealand

Value in HK$ million (US$ million)

2021 % Change
over 2020
Jan - Mar
2020
% Change
over
Jan - Mar
2021
(a) Domestic Exports 80
(10)
+51.55 13
(2)
+0.3
(b) Re-exports


- of Mainland origin
4,138
(532)

3,583
(461)
86.6%*
+6.6


+12.8
829
(106)

715
(92)
86.2%*
-7.6


-2.9
(c) Total Exports
[(a)+(b)]
4,219
(543)
+7.2 842
(108)
-7.5
(d) Imports 5,469
(703)
+13.6 912
(117)
-2.0
(e) Total Trade
[(c)+(d)]
9,687
(1,246)
+10.7 1,755
(225)
-4.7
(f) Balance of Trade
[(c)-(d)]
-1,250
(-161)
-70
(-9)

* Figure denotes percentage share of Mainland-origin re-exports over total Hong Kong re-exports to New Zealand.


(c) Major Categories of Commodities Traded between Hong Kong and New Zealand in 2021

Domestic Exports to New Zealand
New Zealand ranked 25th among Hong Kong’s domestic exports markets.

The top 3 commodities were (in descending order):
  • Miscellaneous edible products and preparations (18.1%)
  • Petroleum, petroleum products and related materials (16.2%)
  • Non-ferrous metals (12.6%)

Re-exports to New Zealand
New Zealand ranked 47th among Hong Kong’s re-exports markets.

The top 3 commodities were (in descending order):
  • Telecommunications and sound recording and reproducing apparatus and equipment (28.6%)
  • Office machines and automatic data processing machines (23.1%)
  • Electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, and electrical parts thereof (12.9%)

Imports from New Zealand
New Zealand ranked 34th among Hong Kong’s sources of imports.

The top 3 commodities were (in descending order):
  • Dairy products and birds' eggs (41.4%)
  • Vegetables and fruit (13.9%)
  • Meat and meat preparations (11.6%)

1 Source: WTO Statistics Database.
2 Source: Statistics New Zealand.
3 Trade between New Zealand and the Mainland routed through Hong Kong is estimated by summing up (i) New Zealand-origin re-exports to the Mainland; and (ii) Mainland-origin re-exports to New Zealand (Source: C&SD).
4 The percentage = (a) Trade routed through Hong Kong ÷ (b) Total trade (including re-exports) between the Mainland and New Zealand. While (a) is worked out from statistics compiled by C&SD (please see footnote 3), (b) is obtained by adding total trade figure from the Mainland’s General Administration of Customs and C&SD’s figure of Mainland-origin re-export to New Zealand via Hong Kong. Since two different sources of data are involved, the calculated percentage is solely indicative.
5 The increase was mainly due to the increase of domestic exports of “Silver, platinum and other metals of the platinum group” by 3,371.7 times in 2021. This product item accounted for 0.006% of the domestic exports to New Zealand in 2020.

 

(a) Points to Note

  1. In 2020 New Zealand was our 31st largest trading partner, 38th largest export market (0.1% of total exports of services), and 26th largest source of imports (0.2% of total imports of services).

  2. In 20216, Hong Kong was the world’s 20th largest commercial services trading entity while New Zealand ranked 49th.

  3. The average annual growth rate in bilateral trade in services between Hong Kong and New Zealand was -19.3% from 2016 to 2020. The bilateral trade in services decreased by 64.1% in 2020.


(b) Summary of Hong Kong’s Trade in Services with New Zealand

Value in HK$ million (US$ million)

2019 % Change
over 2018
2020 % Change
over 2019
(a) Exports 1,383
(176)
-7.9 542
(70)
-60.8
(b) Imports 2,082
(266)
-10.5 839
(108)
-59.7
(c) Total Trade
[= (a) + (b)]
3,465
(442)
-9.5 1,381
(178)
-60.1
(d) Net Export of Services
[= (a) – (b)]
-699
(-89)
- -297
(-38)
-


(c) Major Groups of Service Traded between Hong Kong and New Zealand in 2020

Exports to New Zealand
New Zealand ranked 38th among Hong Kong’s exports markets (0.1% of total exports of services).

From 2016 to 2020, the average annual growth rate was -20.2%.
  • Data on the top three components of services imports is not available.

Imports from New Zealand
New Zealand ranked 26th among Hong Kong's sources of imports (0.2% of total imports of services).

From 2016 to 2020, the average annual growth rate was -18.6%.
  • Data on the top three components of services imports is not available.

6 Source: WTO Statistics Database.

  1. In a survey covering 9 049 companies in Hong Kong with parent companies located outside Hong Kong, as at June 2021, there were less than 5 regional headquarters, less than 5 regional offices and 12 local offices in Hong Kong with parent companies located in New Zealand.

  2. At the end of 2020, New Zealand was outside the 20 major sources of inward direct investment (IDI) into Hong Kong and outside the 20 major destinations of outward direct investment (ODI) from Hong Kong. As such, relevant investment data are not released by C&SD.

Hong Kong and New Zealand signed the Hong Kong, China – New Zealand Closer Economic Partnership Agreement on 29 March 2010. Entering into force on 1 January 2011, the Agreement is Hong Kong’s first free trade agreement (FTA) with a foreign economy.

Hong Kong and New Zealand signed the Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (IPPA) on 6 July 1995. The IPPA came into force on 5 August 1995.

  1. New Zealand is regarded as one of the countries along the “Belt and Road” Initiative. It was ratified as a founding member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in December 2015.

  2. A Memorandum of Arrangement On Strengthening Cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative was signed between the Mainland of China and New Zealand during Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s visit to New Zealand on 27 March 2017.

New Zealand* Hong Kong#
2019 2020 2021 2019 2020 2021
Population
(million)
5.0 5.1 5.1 7.5 7.4 7.4p
Current GDP
(US$ billion)
211 211 248 363 345^ 368^
Current GDP
per capita (US$)
42,329 41,428 48,424 48,359 46,097^ 49,779^
Real GDP growth
(% change)
2.9 -2.1 5.6 -1.7 -6.5^ 6.4^
CPI (% change) 1.6 1.7 3.9 2.9 0.3 1.6
Unemployment (%) 4.2 4.6 3.8 2.9 5.8 5.2


*Source: International Monetary Fund (IMF) – World Economic Outlook Database.
#Source: C&SD. ^Figures are subject to revisions when updated information is available. Figures with P are provisional figures.



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