From September 13 to 19, a delegation from the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin visited New Zealand and Australia, meeting companies and business groups in Auckland, Christchurch, Sydney and Melbourne as part of the Cooperation Zone's promotion to attract overseas investment.

The week-long trip involved visits to 12 companies and two business associations across sectors including dairy, health and wellness, new energy, tourism and finance. An Australia-Hengqin Investment Promotion Conference was also held in Sydney on September 16.

At the conference, Hengqin's Industrial Development Bureau presented the Cooperation Zone's development priorities, business environment and support policies. The Bank of China Sydney Branch will help Australian companies looking to enter the Hengqin market with cross-border financial services and market-entry support.

The delegation visited the New Zealand-China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the China Chamber of Commerce in Australia, and agreed to establish a regular investment promotion coordination mechanism and invite local enterprises to visit Hengqin.

The delegation also met business associations in New Zealand and Australia to discuss regular exchanges and future visits by companies to Hengqin.

In New Zealand, discussions focused on dairy and health-related businesses. The delegation introduced Hengqin's supportive policies for New Zealand companies to use it as a base for reaching consumers across the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and beyond, with a focus on specialty dairy products, functional dairy ingredients, as well as health and wellness products. Manuka Health expressed interest in registering health products in Macao and setting up cross-border e-commerce and natural bee product processing operations in Hengqin.

In Australia, the delegation met health and wellness companies and discussed the "Macao Registration + Hengqin Production" model, which allows products registered in Macao to be manufactured in Hengqin, subject to relevant regulations. Talks also covered potential plans for a China operational headquarters and an R&D center for probiotic functional foods in Hengqin.

The delegation also visited the Australian headquarters of companies already operating in Hengqin. Discussions covered further investment in existing projects, tourism cooperation, supply chains and two-way trade. Other meetings covered potential investment, cross-border finance and industrial partnerships.

The trip was part of Hengqin's broader effort to build business links with Australia and New Zealand. The Cooperation Zone will maintain regular contact with the companies and business associations and follow up on investment and cooperation opportunities identified during the visit.