Hi John

 

This is to confirm I have received your LGOIMA request and a response is
being worked on.

 

Louise

Louise Pagan
Communications Manager
Southland District
Council
PO Box 903
[1][IMG] Invercargill  9840
P: 0800 732 732  |  F:
0800 732 329
www.southlanddc.govt.nz
M: 027 426 2124
DDI: 03 211 2526

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Ph - 0800 732 732 | Fax - 0800 732 329 | Email -
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Southland District Council - Working Together for a Better Southland

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Hi Mr Luke

As per your Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act request dated 5 June, the answers to your questions are as follows:

Yikun Zhang has been a friend of Southland since he and his team visited here in 2016 at the invitation of Central Government. The Mayor, Gary Tong, met Mr Zhang and Ping Chen and the relationship has been built since then. Council has not appointed Yikun Zhang and Ping Chen in the roles indicated. There is an informal relationship to see how things progress. Both are well known in central government and both have close links to high level Ministers and MPs.
The Mayor wishes to acknowledge the work of Yikun Zhang and Ping Chen and he has no emails that relate to any business matters that can be released as discussions occur between Ping Chen and the Mayor as Mr Zhang gains confidence in English. To date communication has been verbal and translated either on conference call or Wee Chat.

The Mayor made the decision to acknowledge the work of Mr Zhang and Mrs Chen himself, not through Council. He has met Mr Zhang and Ping Chen in every aspect of business, from meetings in China to meetings in Auckland and Invercargill accompanied by many business identities and Ministers and MPs and due diligence was carried out during that time for what is, as stated, an informal relationship.

There is no job description and neither have any powers other than to advise now and hopefully into the future. The Southland District has received no gifts from either party, and the Mayor has received two bottles of wine prior to a dinner (2016) in Auckland, a sponsored trip to China (2017) for he and his partner to attend business and local government introductions in Beijing and Guangzhou and return again. In return he has presented Mr Zhang with two legs of fresh lamb from his 10-acre block and four live crayfish from a fishing trip. He has hosted Mr Zhang and Mrs Chen in Southland.
The Mayor’s intention is to remain strongly linked to Yikun Zhang and Ping Chen and continue discussions to progress relationships between the business community in Auckland, while linking Southland to the cities of Guangzhou, Beijing and maybe Shantou.

Please find a copy of the email letter from the Mayor as requested at the bottom of this email.

If you have any concerns in relation to this response then you are able to raise these with the Ombudsman in accordance with Section 27 (3) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act.

Louise

From: Gary Tong
Sent: Friday, 1 June 2018 9:18 a.m.
To: Dianne Williams
Subject: FW: Business Advisor & Legal Consultant

Dear Chairman Zhang and Ping Chen

Over the past 3 years we have formed a professional relationship and a friendship that I am sure will show rewards in the future of business here in Southland.

As the proud Mayor of Southland I welcome your contribution to the future of Southland as a Business Advisor which at this time is in an informal arrangement. I believe there is an opportunity to develop this further.

Along with Ping Chen you have been of considerable help and I believe the relationship between the Southland District, Mr Yikun Zhang (中国投资）商业顾问 as business advisor) and Ping Chen (中国投资）法律顾问 as legal consultant) can only but prosper.

I look forward to collaborating alongside you both as overseas companies and investors look at investing in Southland.

The future looks good.

Yours in Southland

Gary Tong

Mayor

[cid:imagea66f1f.GIF@02103b97.479f809a]<http://www.southlanddc.govt.nz> Louise Pagan
Communications Manager
Southland District Council
PO Box 903
Invercargill 9840
P: 0800 732 732 | F: 0800 732 329
www.southlanddc.govt.nz
M: 027 426 2124
DDI: 03 211 2526

-----Original Message-----
From: john luke [mailto:[FOI #7994 email]]
Sent: Tuesday, 5 June 2018 9:35 p.m.
To: General
Subject: Official Information request - Mayor's letter to Mr Yikun Zhang and Ms Ping Chen

Dear Southland District Council and the Mayor,

There is a letter from the Mayor Gary Tong dated 1 June 2018 addressed to Mr Yikun Zhang and Ms Ping Chen widespread in the Chinese social media. The letter said the Council has informally appointed Mr Yikun Zhang as a business advisor and Ms Ping Chen as a legal consultant. This letter has created lots of speculation, thus I would like to request the Mayor's office or Southland District Council to release any notes, emails, meeting minutes or any communications between the Mayor and Mr Yikun Zhang and Ms Ping Chen.

Also, I would like to know in what grounds that the Mayor make such decsion to informally appoint Mr Yikun Zhang as a business advisor and Ms Ping Chen as a legal consultant. What is the process to informally appoint someone to such position and what kind of the due diligence process has been completed piror to the appointment. Moreover, what is the job description of these two roles and what power they holds.

Can the office also confirm if the Mayor or Southland District Council has receive any gifts or donation from Mr Yikun Zhang or Ms Ping Chen, if so what the Mayor or Southland District Council has received.

Yours faithfully,

John Luke

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Attention:
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entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material.
Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance
upon, this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient
is prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the Southland District Council and
delete the material from any system and destroy any copies.

Ph - 0800 732 732 | Fax - 0800 732 329 | Email - [Southland District Council request email]
Southland District Council - Working Together for a Better Southland
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