Chinese outfit Huawei is visiting New Zealand this week to assess possible business opportunities in Godzone.

A team includes vice president of global procurement, Wu Kunhong, who will attend functions held by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) and New Zealand Information Communications Technology Group (NZICT) in Auckland and Wellington. The idea idea is that Huawei will get the chance to showcase its products to the international team.

New Zealand and the Chinese have been getting closer lately. There was a trade mission to China made last year by Trade Minister Tim Groser with a handful of New Zealand companies including Rakon, Pacific Fibre and Datacom, Tomizone. Huawei New Zealand CEO Arthur Zhang, says the visit is an indication of New Zealand’s importance to the company’s global business. The Chinese outfit might be seeing opportunities in New Zealand's telecommunications and manufacturing industry. In 2007, it won the tender for Vodafone’s fixed line broadband network, and the following year began working with 2degrees to build and launch its cellular network.

In February Huawei announced it would be supplying the fibre equipment for Enable’s Christchurch UFB network.  It is unlikely that the Chinese would want to set up shop in New Zealand.  They have some pretty good employment laws, unless you are a sheep, in which case you will either lose the clothes from your back or end up in someone's lunch.