Prime Minister John Key was at the signing of a lucrative co-production deal between Dunedin television company NHNZ and China Central Television.
NHNZ signed the Sino-NZ agreement with China Central Television (CCTV) on Monday in Beijing, allowing it to officially co-produce more television shows.
One of those projects is a further 60 30-minute episodes of ZooMoo Animal Friends, which became the No1 show in its time slot in China for the 4 to 14 age demographic last month.
It was viewed by more than 252million people.
In a statement from Beijing, NHNZ managing director Kyle Murdoch said the new agreement would accelerate development in the television market between New Zealand and China.
‘‘Growth in China has been a key focus for NHNZ and we are thrilled to have multiple China co-production agreements in place,'' Mr Murdoch said.
Fifty-two 12-minute episodes of another ‘‘multimillion-dollar'' animated series, Panda and Kiwi, had also been approved. It would be co-produced by CCTV Animation.
A documentary series, How the Silk Road Changed the World, would also be co-produced in conjunction with CCTV10. It would be three one-hour programmes.
NHNZ and CCTV had had a ‘‘successful global partnership'' for more than 10 years, the statement said.
