The Country 26/08/25: Hunter McGregor talks to Jamie Mackay

Our China correspondent comments on hot Shanghai nights and the high rate of growth of third-tier cities such as Huzhou.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
A guy in Shanghai. Is Hunter McGregor, a kiw selling
venison add red meat to the Chinese? Are you sick
and tired of the Chinese summer? Forty degree heat?

Speaker 2 (00:10):
Hunter, Good afternoon, Jamie. Yes, this is a typical summer
at the tail end now, and you know we're up
to sort of forty forty three yesterday. You know, we
get down overnight as thirty. So yeah, looking forward to
the summer to dissipate in September is usually a fantastic month.

(00:30):
So you know, by the time a couple of weeks
time will have lovely weather and it's the best time
of the year in China.

Speaker 1 (00:37):
How does this affect your business, because I'm sure that
people don't want to sit out on sidewalk cafes having
a bit of New Zealand venison in this stinking hot heat.

Speaker 2 (00:47):
Yeah. No, it's it's a low period.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
You know.

Speaker 2 (00:50):
July and August is a seasonally low period for a
lot of things, especially especially red meat, you know, because
people don't want to go out and travel. And one
thing that's interesting that I've noticed this year is that
in the past July and August was was always a
slow time, but you know, the city would sort of

(01:12):
be it to be normal and things would sort of
tick over normally. But this year what's happened is a
lot of Chinese have actually gone on holiday and did
a bit more traveling. So the city's been really quiet.
Driving around at rush hour, it's not as busy as
it normally is, and it's only sort of picked up
this week. Well last week I noticed it around the

(01:32):
roads around RUSSIAU, So you know, there's been a big
sort of this is seasonal and then the next four
months of our business will will sell more than the
previous eight months, and that's the same for a lot
of restaurants as well. It's a busy time you're heading
into Christmas and stuff. But you know what, I've noticed
that the local Chinese are starting to do a bit

(01:53):
more traveling, spending more time with family. So that sort
of work life balance is starting to come in to
play a bit more, and even in the bigger cities
like Shanghai.

Speaker 1 (02:03):
I was am seeing a fundraiser on Friday night in Tapoki.
Shane Jones was the guest speaker. I go to sit
down at the top table as you do the Hunter,
and then there's a wee present wrapped up to Jamie
from Hunter. I'm thinking, who the hell's Hunter? It ended
up it was you. One of your mates was the
organizer's son. And you've given me some flash chopsticks. You

(02:24):
realize I can't use them. I've got to use a fork.

Speaker 2 (02:27):
Well, you've got to eat, Jamie. So I thought would
give you a nice gift, but no, my mate Cam's
just moved back to New Zealand from Shanghai. Has been
here a few years and look, he had a major
impact around the businesses in Shanghai. I have talked to
four bar owners and they're all going to miss him
because he put a lot of a lot of US

(02:49):
hard earned money across the bar. But really what's happening
here in Shanghai is a lot of the foreigners, especially
like Cameron, who's who's left China, they're not being replaced.
So a lot of these sports bars now and restaurants
as well, don't have the big spending sort of foreigners
that they have in the past. That they're struggling. And

(03:10):
Chinese people are frequent in these places a lot more
as well, which is good, but they don't pick up
the slack. They don't spend it as much as a
big spending Kiwi who's on a big teacher salary up here.
So you know a lot of bar owners are struggling
because there hasn't been the there's been a COVID exodus
of expats and there hasn't been an influx coming back.

(03:33):
So it's just changing the nightlife and the feel of
the city. You know, it's just what happens up here,
and you know things will some places will go under
and then there'll be something new will arrive in its place.
So you know things are changing here.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
Like always. Well done to cam and it was good
to meet them at the Shane Jones fundraiser for the
Tapuke Rugby Club. Hey, just to finish, Sean, you want
to talk about smaller Chinese cities in particular one who.

Speaker 2 (04:01):
Yeah, I know. Last weekend I went with took my
family to Hujo, which is a small Chinese city about
two hours an hour and a half two hour drive
inland from Shanghai. Now, it's a small Chinese city, has
about two million people and it's sort of a third
tier city. It's really interesting. It's where all the growth
is happening in China now. It's not so much in

(04:24):
the biggest cities like Beijing, Shanghaan, Guangzhou. It's more into
the smallest city, second third tier. And in Hujo, you know,
we're down there. We went there on downtown on Saturday
afternoon and you know, the place is dead. It's very
different to Shanghai. But the city itself is growing one
percent more than that than the Chinese average. And that's

(04:45):
where you know there's going to be a lot of
growth in the future. But it's it's it's a really
different It's going to be a tough market for especially
for smaller companies. I think the big companies like you know,
the likes of the Fonterras and Vespreys, they've had to
do it okay because of better re into those cities.
A smaller companies are going to really struggle. But it

(05:06):
was fascinating. We took the you'd like this, Jamie. We
took the high speed toll road there and we sat
on one hundred and twenty k's all the way and
or three lanes. And in China, when you do the
speed limit, you feel like you're going way too slow
because everyone else is passing you. But you cost me
about fifteen dollars and one hundred you could sit on.

(05:28):
The speed limb was one hundred and twenty k's all
the way there. So pretty easy to get around China
with some great infrastructure.

Speaker 1 (05:35):
Well, but like driving from Talroungo out to Tapuki on
the new Eastern Toll Road, very good. We need lots
more of those in New Zealand. Not to mention, Damns,
don't start me, Hunter MacGregor. Thanks for your time, mate,
always appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (05:47):
Yes, thanks Jamie