WELLINGTON - The New Zealand government's quality testing company is working with two Chinese food giants to investigate the development of a China New Zealand agribusiness service and a food safety center of excellence in China.

The wholly government-owned AsureQuality and PwC New Zealand signed the collaboration agreement with China Mengniu Dairy and COFCO Corporation to work on a dairy-related food safety and farm assurance project, which is expected to grow to include other New Zealand commercial and research entities with expertise in the agriculture sector.

AsureQuality CEO Michael Thomas and PwC New Zealand CEO Bruce Hassall issued a joint statement Thursday, saying the agreement would enable New Zealand's "world-class food safety models, agricultural systems and skill sets" to be provided on a commercial basis in China.

Auckland-based AsureQuality, which has subsidiaries in Australia and Singapore, offers internationally accredited audit, inspection, certification, training and laboratory testing services for food producers, processors and government agencies in more than 40 countries around the world.

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