19 Nov 2013

Little impact expected for NZ from relaxation of one-child policy

7:39 am on 19 November 2013

China's decision to relax its one-child policy is not expected to make much difference to New Zealand's growing export trade with the world's second biggest economy.

In the most ambitious set of reforms since the 1990s, Communist Party leaders have pledged to overhaul the economy, ease the one-child policy and expand farmers' land rights.

It is estimated that relaxing family planning rules will result in an extra 9 - 15 million births in China over the next decade.

But ANZ Bank senior economist Sharon Zollner says the impact on New Zealand's food exports could be limited, due to low birth rates among the high-income consumers that producers target in key cities like Shanghai.