Sinopharm has annual sales of 200 billion RMB, or the equivalent of $NZ40 billion, with Blis chief executive Dr Barry Richardson saying it was twice the size of New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra.
Sinopharm deputy general manager Zhiyuan Lv and Fang Zhang, general manager of the National Medicines Prospect Dentech (Beijing), which is an oral health subsidiary of Sinopharm, were accompanied by two oral health professors from Peking University. About 70% of NMPD staff members have oral health qualifications.
Ms Zhang said Blis products were ''top class'' for oral health and were leading edge. The representatives believed these had ''real potential'' for the health of the general public in China.
They came to Dunedin to learn more about Blis' research and how to proceed with promotion of the products. NMPD was always looking for new leading-edge products and what they had learnt about Blis had attracted them to visit, she said.
Dr Richardson said the relationship with Sinopharm was ''incredibly important'' to Blis and the Chinese market had huge potential for the biotech company.
William McQui, managing director of NZPR Group LTd, who is Blis' exclusive distributor in China, had undertaken the funding and negotiations to get the Blis K12 probiotic approved as an ingredient in China.
Following gaining approval for Blis in China, Mr McQui had been working to identify the right partner, which had been a two-year process, and culminated in this week's visit, Dr Richardson said.
NZPR has expanded its shareholding in Blis. The company is involved in broad business interests in China from movie distribution to dairy products, grass cultivars and horticultural products.
Some people overlooked the need to understand the culture when working in markets such as China, and the relationship with Mr McQui had been very valuable, Dr Richardson said.
