WELLINGTON - New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully on Thursday announced diplomat Gabrielle Rush as the country's new consul-general to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Hong Kong has been an important commercial and investment market for New Zealand companies, with two-way goods trade of more than 900 million NZ dollars ($701.92 million), as well as an important gateway to the Chinese mainland for New Zealand firms, McCully said.

"Since 2011 the New Zealand-Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership has secured duty-free access for New Zealand goods into Hong Kong and improved business flows," he said in a statement.

"Hong Kong is currently New Zealand's 15th largest goods export market and eighth biggest destination of services exports," said McCully.

"Hong Kong has been a strong source of tourists with 29,000 visitor arrivals in the year to June 2014. This has been boosted by twice daily flights between Hong Kong and Auckland."

Rush used to serve as an international lawyer and diplomat, who had previously been posted to the New Zealand embassy in Beijing and the High Commission in London.