Jun 19, 2025
From left: Ambassador Jonathan Austin, Dong'e Ejiao Chairman Jie Cheng, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, DINZ CEO Rhys Griffiths
Deer Industry New Zealand (DINZ) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Dong’e Ejiao, one of China’s largest traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) companies. The MOU represents a commitment to exploring joint opportunities in the research, development and marketing of deer products, particularly in velvet – prized in China for its traditional medicinal properties.
The MOU, signed yesterday at a ceremony in Shanghai, will give New Zealand deer farmers an established TCM partner in China that has a long-term commitment to velvet and existing channels to consumers. In turn, Dong’e Ejiao gain a trusted supplier of a premium and valued TCM ingredient, backed by high-level quality assurance, traceability and provenance branding.
The signing was made possible by agreement on a new trade protocol for frozen deer velvet into China, which came into effect in October last year but will be officially signed tomorrow by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon in Beijing while he is there leading a trade delegation of 28 business leaders from New Zealand, including DINZ CEO Rhys Griffiths.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says, “The new trade protocol for frozen velvet is a significant step forward for our deer industry, and we are pleased to see it come to fruition. It is encouraging to see partnerships, like the newly signed MOU between DINZ and Dong’e Ejiao, flow from that and spells great news for our rural sector.”
Frozen velvet exports into China, which represent the majority of New Zealand velvet exports, were halted previously in 2023 when the existing trade protocol needed to be aligned with domestic regulations. Officials agreed on a transition period for the 2023/24 season before negotiations began on a permanent solution. An agreement was finalised on 31 October 2024, just ahead of the 2024/25 season.
"Building relationships with key partners who can deliver greater value for our New Zealand velvet is where we want to be,” says Griffiths. “We are looking to shift velvet out of the commodity trade of the past and into a new era, where velvet is used for premium, contemporary nutraceuticals and health foods, ultimately returning greater value all the way down the value chain to the farmgate.”
Representatives from Dong’e Ejiao visited New Zealand last year as they explored ways to diversify their product line to support their hero product – a popular collagen product targeting women. They visited a velvet processor, a venison processor and two deer farms, and left impressed by the quality standards and farming practices they saw, particularly with regards to quality assurance, hygiene and handling, and environmental stewardship.
DINZ looks forward to working with Dong’e Ejiao to take New Zealand velvet into China's health and wellness market in all-new contemporary products, delivering on our strategic goals of getting more value for our velvet and returns for our producers.
