5 Feb 2013

Yashili Dairy looking to set up shop in NZ

2:53 pm on 5 February 2013

Another Chinese company is looking to set up shop in New Zealand and send infant milk formula back to its home market.

Yashili New Zealand Dairy Company has confirmed it is seeking approval from the Overseas Investment Office to build a $210 million milk processing plant at Pokeno in Waikato.

Operations manager Terry Norwood says the company has used New Zealand milk in its products for over 10 years.

Mr Norwood said he does not expect that the Overseas Investement Office process will take too long and Yashili hopes to be manufacturing product in New Zealand in the second half of 2014.

In a statement, the company said the Chinese government's recent move to substantially reduce import tariffs on finished milk formula was part of the reason it wanted to establish itself in New Zealand.

It said the tariffs were lowered in response to the huge shift of people from rural to urban areas in China, rising incomes and more mothers going to work.