By Kate Chapman
Today is New Zealand's day to shine in China, Prime Minister John Key says.
And to test whether the $30 million worth of taxpayer money spent on New Zealand's pavilion at the World Expo in Shanghai was worth it.
Today is New Zealand's allocated national day at the expo.
Mr Key is in Shanghai to participate in the day.
More than seven million people are expected to visit the New Zealand pavilion over six months.
"Tomorrow is going to be a very important day for New Zealand," Mr Key said yesterday.
"To put it in perspective, in broad terms, roughly the equivalent of all of the tourists that came to New Zealand from Australia last year have now already gone through the expo."
That is over one million people.
While that was a lot of people getting a taste of New Zealand, he said.
The challenge was to make sure some of those people came to New Zealand on holiday or bought our goods, "having whet their appetite about what's available in New Zealand".
Contact would be kept with those who visited the pavilion through New Zealand Trade and Enterprise and the collection of email addresses, Mr Key said.
While some people would just wander through and have a look others would be encouraged to take a trip to New Zealand, he said.
The digital strategy being run in China, with video clips played in taxis and internet ads was working well, Mr Key said.
Mr Key yesterday visited New Zealand Central - a place businesses use to facilitate growth in China through meeting Chinese contacts.
He said it was great to see it in action.
"New Zealand Central is essentially a venue that can hired by any New Zealand company... it's sort of a neutral point if you like, if you're a New Zealand company, you don't have to hire a hotel room and it's very efficient and obviously effective."
More than 7000 business have been through since it opened 15 months ago.
"Commerce and enterprise is alive and well here in China."
At a business roundtable yesterday afternoon Mr Key said the 30 business people, Chinese and New Zealand, backed the doubling of two-way trade with China in five years.
They saw a lot of opportunities in the service industry, he said.
Mr Key arrived in Shanghai from Beijing yesterday. On Saturday he travels to Vietnam before arriving home on Tuesday.
The expo runs for four more months.
(Kate Chapman travelled with the help of funding from the Asia New Zealand Foundation)
NZPA