New Zealanders Eye Asia's Rising Importance, Seek Stronger Connections

The Asia New Zealand Foundation’s Perceptions of Asia and Asian Peoples survey shows New Zealanders see Asia as a high-priority region for engagement.

Now in its 27th year, the latest survey released today shows New Zealanders continue to see the Asia region as being very important to New Zealand’s future. New Zealanders’ interests in Asia are growing year-on-year, particularly among young New Zealanders. New Zealanders’ knowledge of the region is also at an all-time high.

"The data shows a clear shift towards a more informed and engaged New Zealand public when it comes to Asia. Today, roughly six out of ten (59 percent) New Zealanders say they feel reasonably knowledgeable about Asia, up from about three out of ten (33 percent) a decade ago,” says Suzannah Jessep, chief executive of the Asia New Zealand Foundation Te Whītau Tūhono.

Seventy-five percent of New Zealanders over the age of fifteen believe that having a strong relationship with Asia is important to New Zealand's future. “No matter what metric we look at, the Asia region is going to be hugely consequential to us. Whether it’s technology, demographic change, trade, environment, politics, arts or sports. Asia has the demographic dividend which means it is growing faster than most others, and therefore it will likely shape the future trends that impact us most. The survey underscores a growing sentiment among New Zealanders that prioritising engagement with the region is paramount," says Jessep.

Equally, the survey shows New Zealanders’ wariness around some countries and their activities. “What we see each year is how New Zealanders are assessing the Asia region, and who they consider friendly towards New Zealand and the developments they’re comfortable with, against who they consider a little bit threatening or are uneasy about.”

“One of the trends we’re watching is the rise of India and its perceived importance to New Zealand.” India has overtaken Singapore as the third most important Asian country to New Zealand’s future, following China and Japan and ahead of Singapore and South Korea. New Zealanders also expect India’s influence over New Zealand to rise in the next ten-to-twenty years. South Asia is now seen to be equally important as Southeast Asia.

Japan holds strong as New Zealand's closest friend and partner in Asia, reflecting warm people to people connections, high levels of trust, and strong levels of interest among New Zealanders. Food and travel to Asia, alongside cultural connections are also rated highly.

"New Zealand has a unique position for effective engagement with Asia," says Jessep. New Zealanders of Asian heritage, as well as New Zealanders who identify as Māori, have skills and cultural know-how that can play an important role in building deeper relations with our key partners in Asia. “This is a region where relationships, rather than transactions, matter most.”

"While trade continues to be a key area of focus when it comes to Asia, for younger New Zealanders we’re seeing an interest forged through gaming, entertainment, online communities, music and video," says Jessep. Nearly six in ten New Zealanders have visited Asia, primarily for leisure purposes, underscoring the importance of experiential learning in fostering cross-cultural understanding.

"This year’s Perceptions of Asia and Asian Peoples sends a clear message that Asia is going to continue to be a hugely consequential part of New Zealand’s future - the need to understand the region and New Zealand’s connections to it is only going to grow in importance," says Jessep.

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Key findings:

• Asia remains the second most important region to New Zealand’s future after Australia. Three quarters (75 percent) of New Zealanders see Asia as important or very important to New Zealand’s future, an increase of three percentage points from 2022.

• New Zealanders’ knowledge of Asia is at an all-time high. Fifty-nine percent of respondents reported knowing ‘at least a fair amount’ about Asia. This is a significant increase from 10 years ago: in 2013 only one-third (33 percent) of New Zealanders considered themselves knowledgeable about Asia.

• New Zealanders are recognising the importance of India. India has overtaken Singapore as the third most important Asian country to New Zealand’s future, following China and Japan and ahead of Singapore and South Korea. New Zealanders also expect India’s influence over New Zealand to rise in the next 10-to-20 years. South Asia is now seen to be equally important as Southeast Asia.

• But China is still overwhelmingly seen as the Asian country with the most influence over New Zealand. Eighty-two percent of New Zealanders see China as having the greatest influence over New Zealand currently, and 73 percent expect China to still be the most influential in 10-to-20 years’ time.

• Despite widespread recognition of China’s importance, sentiment towards China remains mixed: 33 percent of respondents see China as a friend to New Zealand, while 32 percent view it as a threat. However, sentiment has warmed compared to the 2022 survey, where 30 percent of respondents saw China as a friend and 37 percent identified it as a threat.

• While China may be the most important and influential, Japan is the most loved. Japan is regarded as New Zealand’s closest friend in Asia, is second only to China in terms of importance to New Zealand and claims the title for New Zealand’s most important security and defence partner in Asia. Japan is also the country New Zealanders both know best and continue to be most curious about, and the country New Zealanders most want to visit.

• When it comes to how Asia will impact New Zealand in the next 10-to-20 years, respondents were slightly more positive about the impact of Asian tourism and economic growth compared to the previous year. Results for the impact of Asian language, cultures and traditions and Asian investment in New Zealand were unchanged. Technology, regional security, climate change, remain areas of concern. New Zealanders were less positive about the impact of immigration than in the previous survey.

• The majority of New Zealanders of Asian descent report having skills that could help strengthen New Zealand’s relationships with Asia, but over a third feel their Asian heritage has negatively impacted their own career development.

• Māori respondents also feel they have unique skills to have deepen New Zealand Asia relations. Around 43 percent of Māori feel that they could do more to help grow New Zealand’s relationships across Asia and feel that Māori are leading the way with Asia because Māori approach relationships differently. Encouragingly, almost half of respondents felt that young Māori are much more interested in Asia than previous generations.

• Nearly six out of 10 New Zealanders (58 percent) have travelled to Asia, primarily for holidays. Unsurprisingly, travel is also the preferred way of learning more about Asia. Attending festivals, exhibitions and community events, and informal learning –such as through meeting people of Asian heritage – rounded out the top three ways New Zealanders were most keen to develop their knowledge of the region.

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