Yang Jian: General DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeYang Jian: General Debate[Sitting date: 11 November 2015. Volume:710;Page:7900. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Dr JIAN YANG (National): This Government has a plan that is working. From 2011 and a debt of $18 billion we now have a small surplus. In 2009 Treasury expected a net debt of 60 percent of GDP. Now it is just over 25 percent and it will come down to 20 percent in the coming years. Also interest rates have been low for 7 years—they are at a 50-year low. Interest rates are going to stay low for the coming years. In the past 4 years we have also created 200000 new jobs. This is a Government that has been focusing on economic growth.There are two key components to our plan. One is of course to manage our finances responsibly. Secondly we have a growth-driven economic plan. To have growth in the economy we need to focus on trade. Trade is particularly important for New Zealand simply because we are a small country with just over 4 million people. That is a lifeline for our economy. Trade with China has been growing extremely fast. In 2008 our exports with China were just over $2 billion; now they are close to $10 billion.Trade also means more investment. Trade and investment—the two often come together. For example last Friday I attended the opening ceremony of Yashili in Pōkeno in North Waikato. This company invested over $220 million in the plant. Eventually it will employ 85 people from the local community and also the output will be 52000 tonnes of formula products. So this is the kind of investment that we need for our New Zealand economy. The Mayor of Waikato said: “Look the Waikato region is growing fast.” Also there is another company—the Yili Group. The Yili Group in Glenavy in South Canterbury has invested $236 million. The plant cost $236 million and will produce 33000 tonnes of milk powder. In the coming 5 years the group is going to invest another $400 million. By 2019 the group is going to have expected revenue of $700 million.These are giants—the big businesses in New Zealand—but we also support small business in New Zealand. For example I came across a couple of young people. They are doing cross-border e-commerce. The business that they set up 2 years ago has been growing by over 1000 percent each year. They are very very optimistic that we are going to see more small business in New Zealand simply because we now have more channels through the internet. That is why the Government has been trying hard to encourage more and more business people to come into e-commerce.Overall the Government needs to have business growth in its mind. That is why the Government has been trying to focus on business growth. Another thing is that this trade with China has been doing so well that we are having more free-trade agreements. For example we are going to have a free-trade agreement with South Korea and also the Trans-Pacific Partnership. If we have the Trans-Pacific Partnership and also the South Korean free-trade agreement that means that we will have free-trade agreements with our top five trading partners including Australia China the United States Japan and South Korea. This is a Government that has been focusing on economic growth. Trade I emphasiseagain is particularly important and we are doing well. The country is moving in the right direction. Thank you.