As New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins prepares to lead a trade delegation to China seeking greater access for both the country's primary exports and emerging sectors such as gaming, producers are diversifying away from their biggest market. Beijing’s attempts to punish neighbouring Australia through trade for perceived intransigence over issues from the origin of COVID-19, to spying and human rights, has been noted in New Zealand. The percentage of New Zealand’s goods exports going to China dropped to 29% in the year to April from 31% in 2022, the first time since 2015 that the share of exports to China has dropped.