Zespri and its board advisor Sir John Key have met with the Chinese foreign minister to discuss the illegal plantings of Gold3 kiwifruit in China. Zespri owns the rights to Sun Gold, or G3, and growers in New Zealand pay hundreds of thousands of dollars per hectare to grow it. However, a grower took clippings to China in 2016; since then the amount of kiwis being cultivated over there has been increasing.
Zespri chief executive Dan Mathieson said the unauthorised plantings remain a significant challenge with around 8000 ha in the ground in China. Sir John met with Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on Monday. Mathieson said the meeting involved discussions around the importance of IP protection.
Mathieson said Zespri continued to work alongside New Zealand industry leaders on a constructive way forward, and looked forward to continuing these discussions with growers and with China and to delivering long-term, mutual benefits for both industries.
Source: rnz.co.nz