Celebrity chef visit highlights Chinese opportunities

It was my great pleasure today to welcome the influential Chef Wong Wing Chee to Tasmania.

Chef Wong lived in Tasmania in the 1990s, working as a chef, and rose to international fame when he won the Chinese version of the cult cooking classic Iron Chef. Now based in Hong Kong, Chef Wong is the Executive Chef at the prestigious and award-winning Lei Garden restaurant.

Tasmania’s reputation as a gourmet paradise is quickly growing, which is good for our producers and great for our tourism industry. This trip shows that since the visit of the Chinese President Xi Jinping, Tasmania is well and truly the must see destination for thousands of Chinese. In fact, last year the number of visitors from China increased by over seventy per cent.

Chef Wong is part of a delegation from Hong Kong and the visit will help boost Tasmania’s profile.

To help capitalise on the gains we’ve made since the visit of President Xi, the Government will hold the annual Savour Tasmania food festival in China this year. We will take the very best of Tasmania’s incredible produce right to the Chinese people.

China is already our largest trading partner, but we see that relationship growing as more and more Chinese experience our premium produce firsthand.

I am looking forward to leading a trade mission to China in September to further boost our trade and cultural ties with the world’s second biggest economy.
Matthew Groom, Minister for State Growth