The New Zealand China Trade Association (NZCTA) recently announced the winners of the NZCTA 2021 China Business Awards, including a new innovation category “Yili Group Award for Innovation in Business between China and New Zealand”. These awards are arguably New Zealand’s most important recognition of the deepening trade and investment relationship between China and New Zealand. The biennial awards ceremony was viewed by audiences in New Zealand, China and other parts of the world in April.
With its strong focus on innovation, dairy industry leader Yili Group was invited to participate as a member of the jury for the new innovation category. Yili helped selected finalists from a number of strong innovation case studies and presented the winner of the innovation award. Yili Group currently owns two subsidiaries in New Zealand, including Oceania Dairy, which is a previous China Business Awards winner, and Westland Dairy, which was acquired in 2019.
The mission of the NZCTA is to promote and strengthen trade and investment relations between New Zealand and China. Established in 1981, the Association has built a reputation in both New Zealand and China as an authoritative source of opinion for the respective governments.
“It is very appropriate given their leadership in and focus on innovation that Yili were the first sponsors of the new innovation category in this year’s awards,” said Martin Thomson, Chair of the NZCTA. “Through their investments in Oceania Dairy and Westland, Yili Group has made a very positive and significant contribution to the economic relationship between New Zealand and China, and to the prosperity and wellbeing of the local communities where their operations are based. I would like to congratulate Yili on their achievements in the areas of innovation, sustainability and social responsibility.”
He further noted that, “Some recent examples of this include the establishment of China’s first certified net-zero carbon food processing factory (in Yunnan), their sponsorship and involvement in the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics and through a two-year collaboration between Westland and Yili the development of a new product – Yili Pro UHT whipping cream for the Chinese market. These are only a very few examples of their achievements in innovation and addressing major challenges for global trade.”
As the fifth-largest dairy company in the world, Yili remains active in global cooperation. The integrated Oceania Dairy Production Base it launched in New Zealand is one of the largest of its kind across the globe, in which investment hit a record high during the cooperation between China and New Zealand. Yili also engages in R&D cooperation with Lincoln University and established its Innovation Centre Oceania in New Zealand. Its acquisition of Westland, New Zealand’s second-largest dairy company, brought about an even broader spectrum of cooperation.
In pursuing mutual development, Yili actively collaborates with its New Zealand partners through “global mindsets and local operations.” By boosting local prosperity and sharing its gains with these partners, Yili has won recognition and respect across the regions where its operations are based. The company also attaches great importance to fulfilling its social responsibilities and getting involved in local communities. It has contributed to talent training for New Zealand’s dairy industry, joined the Pink Ribbon Breakfast to raise awareness of breast cancer, supported sports campaigns, and engaged in socially beneficial activities such as wild salmon protection.
Yili has now put into place a network comprising a global resource system, a global innovation system, and a global market system in Asia, Europe, the Americas, and Oceania. The company has established 15 R&D and innovation centers and 74 production bases around the world. With its “New Vision for Value Creation” , Yili will continue to provide consumers worldwide with diversified health products by pooling global resources and building a global health ecosystem together with its partners.