Michael Baker

Everything from new TVs to medicine could be harder to get as the workforce that supplies this country $16b of goods each year is hit by the virus.

New Zealand exports to China are worth about $21.45b with dairy, meat products, wood products, and products from cereals, flour and starch the main items. However, the full extent is hard to calculate because Chinese authorities stopped releasing daily Covid data. In New Zealand, epidemiologist Michael Baker says the threat is not so much from incoming travellers, but the indirect effects on the production of essential supplies in China. It would be “hugely disruptive” to the supply chain if the likes of port, train, and rail workers could not work while factory workers unable to work would directly impact what could come to New Zealand. [could now leave the country for the first time in three years](https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/wellington/130876496/health-experts-confident-nzs-covid-settings-appropriate-as-china-set-to-open-borders) was expected to be good news for local tourism economy. “The real risk is the economic impact and disruption to supply chains,” he said. New Zealand exports would be affected If Chinese people could not go shopping or to restaurants, he said. Baker said the impact of the Chinese outbreak on the supply chain on certain essentials, such as pharmaceuticals, could be enormous. [The Guardian reported led to enormous strain on the health system](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/25/china-stops-publishing-daily-covid-figures-amid-reports-of-explosion-in-cases) as the virus spread. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, using Stats NZ data to the end of 2021, shows New Zealand imports from China are worth $16.26 billion annually, with electronics, machinery, clothing and furniture the main items. [New Zealand's exports to China are growing but not at Australia's expense](https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/125279469/new-zealands-exports-to-china-are-growing-but-not-at-australias-expense?rm=a) New Zealand is being warned to brace for supply chain issues that could affect everything from RAT tests to a new TV as China is gripped by its