Rebecca Needham

Rebecca Needham is currently the Deputy Head of Mission (Acting) at the NZ Embassy in Beijing. She was previously a Senior Policy Officer, Pacific and Development Group at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. She has also worked as the Director of the Confucius Institute at Victoria University of Wellington and is part of the Global Engagement team.

Rebecca has an undergraduate degree in Asian Studies from Auckland University, and a post-graduate degree in Business Administration from Massey University in New Zealand.  She was a foreign student in China in the late 1980s (East China Normal University and Shanghai International Studies University).

Rebecca joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in 1991 and has served at the New Zealand Embassy in Beijing, the New Zealand Consulate-General, Shanghai, and the New Zealand High Commission in Kuala Lumpur.  Her work at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has focused on New Zealand’s relations with Asia, including leading implementation and review of the first year of the New Zealand Inc China Strategy.