A trade body is warning New Zealand can not rely on a few commodities to significantly boost business with China.
Leaders in Wellington and Beijing have set a goal of notching up $30 billion in two-way trade by 2020.
But according the New Zealand-China Council, relying on exporting dairy, wood and meat in bulk carries a big risk.
Executive director Pat English said there are more opportunities to make more money from high-end processed foods saying the majority of growth so far has been on volume not value.
"What we're talking about is more heavily-processed goods, we're talking about branded products sold into distribution.
"This means instead of sending out a large cut of meat, you're actually sending cuts of meat which are ready for consumption - something which is tailored to China, but things which are more processed," he said.