New Zealand gaming industry insiders and company leaders are looking to press all the right buttons and tap into the vast Chinese market during their visit to China accompanying the country's Prime Minister Chris Hipkins.

Hipkins landed in Beijing on Sunday to begin a six-day official visit to China, accompanied by 29 business delegates from the tourism and education field as well as other diverse sectors including the gaming industry.

Gaming has become one of the New Zealand's fastest-growing sectors, with many national companies gaining global recognition in recent years. The sector has received considerable support from the government, including a recently-announced 20 percent annual rebate for individual studios.

While many of the representatives joining Hipkins may have visited China in some capacity before, this trip is a chance for these Kiwi companies to learn from and forge potential cooperation openings with the Chinese gaming industry.

"I visited China a few times before, the last time was in 2019. I love China, but on this trip, like many others, it's really about just engaging with Chinese gaming companies, forming relationships, and bringing great games to the Chinese audience," said Tyrone McAuley, founder and COO of the Wellington-based game developer PikPok.

"A lot of it is about visiting China, and learning about the market. It's such a massive market for New Zealand. We're so close, relatively speaking, to China," said Dean Hall, CEO of RocketWerkz, a game developer studio located in Auckland.

According to industry reports, China had more than 660 million gamers by the end of 2021, making the country one of the world's most lucrative gaming markets.

"Initially, when we started localizing games for the world, that was really just translating the straight text, but for really important markets like China, we have looked to go a lot further, [including] doing market research to really understand what Chinese consumers want," said McAuley.

Chinese companies have also been investing in New Zealand companies and projects, with Hall's studio receiving a minority stake from a Chinese gaming company. He's optimistic about the potential for enhanced cooperation between the two countries in the gaming sector.

"One of the greatest things is there's already so much cooperation, and I think the next step is for us to learn about the Chinese market, not only about the Chinese market, but to learn from some of the Chinese companies about how they make games," said Hall.