New Zealand's Foreign Minister has held a press conference after meeting Chinese officials Thursday morning. He concluded his three-day visit in Beijing and left China in the afternoon.

Murry McCully's Beijing trip was to reassure China that the New Zealand government takes the current dairy scandal very seriously. He promised to inform Chinese authorities of any developments in the ongoing investigations into New Zealand's dairy giant Fonterra.

For a country so proud of food quality, Fonterra's blunder goes beyond just a commercial scandal.

Murry McCully, New Zealand Foreign Minister, said, "I see before that Fonterra has work ahead of it to rebuild consumer confidence. But I do not pretend that is a matter only for the company. It is something the NZ government will be watching very carefully as well. Because when Fonterra failed to meet the expectations of their customers, they let themselves down, they let the customers down, they also let down every New Zealander. Because this is an export trade that is part of our international brand. New Zealanders are proud of the quality that we bring to the food business internationally. And when there is a suggestion that those standards are not met, all New Zealanders take it very seriously. "

Early in the morning, McCully met his Chinese counterpart, the Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The Fonterra case dominated the talk.

Wang Yi, Chinese Foreign Minister, said, "We have taken note that the New Zealand government has taken cautious measures against the contaminated milk products. We hope they can continue to deal with issues responsibly, and prevent these kinds of incidents from happening again. The rights of Chinese consumers should be considered."

On Wednesday, another batch of milk powder that China had bought from New Zealand's biggest dairy exporter, Fonterra, back in May was found with levels of the chemical nitrate exceeding the standard. This was confirmed by Fonterra's spokesperson.

Earlier this month, Fonterra was found to be exporting products contaminated with botulism-causing bacteria. Imports of Lactoferrin powder, a multifunctional protein produced by New Zealand's second largest dairy company Westland Milk, and other dairy products, have been temporarily banned by China for also having high levels of nitrate.

(CNTV.cn August 22, 2013)