Chinese retail magnate visits New Zealand — Exporter Magazine

BBG chairman Wang Tian has left New Zealand with a smile on his face. Having spent a week here with a group of BBG (BubuGao Group) buying representatives, he travelled in secret in the hope of discovering “the natural and untouched world” others had spoken about.

Hosted by the New Zealand Trade Centre (NZTC), chairman Wang and his team visited producers in Queenstown, Invercargill, Hawke’s Bay, Coromandel and Bombay, and met producers who travelled to Auckland.

Contracts were signed and many new prospects developed, the positive spin-off from a visit of this importance should continue for many years.

BBG, which this year celebrates its 25th anniversarty, is the single largest retailer/distributor in Southwest China, with over 60,000 employees and owners of hypermarkets, supermarkets and other retail chains. Turnover exceeds 27 billion RMB per annum. By 2020 turnover is expected to be more than 100 billion RMB.  

The purpose of the New Zealand trip was to develop strong, long-term links with producers and suppliers in all product areas.  

“BBG’s understands the importance of open relationships with suppliers and producers; the world is becoming a much smaller market and to be competitive, BBG’s relationship must be stronger than our competitors,” says Wang Tian.  

Chairman Wang and wife Helen believe the inner regions of China, the Tier 2 and 3 cities, deserve the service and quality of goods experienced in China’s larger cities. 

Chairman Wang described his trip as “fruitful” and says “the next step for BBG is to integrate a global supply chain and satisfy the online and offline demands of Chinese consumers. In particular, milk, water, meat and other consumable products.” He also said “the exceptional natural conditions make New Zealand a significant supply origin and through the BBG-NZTC cooperation agreement, we aim to create the most professional e-commerce platform for New Zealand products in China”.  

NZTC hosts delegations and buying groups from China on a fortnightly basis and since the release of the China Open Door policy by PM John Key in 2011, the focus and growth in the China market has allowed the company to offer greater assistance for those companies seeking to be ready for China.

Adam Martin, president of NZTC, commented after the BBG visit that “New Zealand is stuck in a rut. 

“Chinese consumers are benefiting from distribution models, such as the O2O, that bypass the duopolies that dominate New Zealand’s supermarket industry. Chairman Wang’s passion to move beyond the need for physical stores is commendable.”