A mother and son accused of attempting to illegally export pounamu to China are nearing the end of a landmark trial at Manukau District Court.
The case is believed to be the first prosecution of its kind by Customs and centres on allegations the pair tried to export more than the legal limit of the culturally significant stone.
Under the Customs Export Prohibition (Pounamu) Order 2021, it is illegal for a single exporter to take more than 5kgs of raw pounamu out of New Zealand without proper consent.
In July 2024, Boyuan Zhang and his mother, Xin Li, were found carrying 17.9kgs of pounamu in luggage bound for China at Auckland International Airport.
Just two months earlier, Zhang’s father and Li’s husband, Jiangbo Zhang, was also found attempting to take pounamu to China.
Customs discovered and seized two stones in his luggage weighing 61kgs in total, but the boarding gate closed before the agency could speak with him.
Now, his family members are under the spotlight, with the trial earlier this week opening with karakia and song from members of South Island iwi Ngāi Tahu.
While not a party to the case, the tribe holds legal ownership of all naturally occurring pounamu within its tribal boundaries under the Ngāi Tahu (Pounamu Vesting) Act 1997.
Zhang directly addressed members of the tribe while giving his evidence.
“I want to say to the friends sitting at the back,” he said. “I 100% respect your culture. Actually, I love the culture. That’s why I love the stone.”
Customs discovered nine stones in total in his and his mother’s carry-on and checked-in luggage.
Exporting pounamu in quantities over 5kgs is only permitted with the approval of the Customs Minister, following advice from Ngāi Tahu.
For raw pounamu sourced from the Arahura River, any export exceeding this limit requires consent from the Mawhera Incorporation, a group representing the area’s original Māori landowners.
The defendants were not travelling alone and initially planned to give some of the pounamu to two others to carry in their luggage.
Xiaoxen Li, a friend of Xin Li, was booked on the same flight and had earlier agreed to carry a 2.6kg stone in her carry-on bag.
But she told the court the plan fell through at the airport, and no pounamu was found in her possession.
Zhang said another person, who 1News is unable to name, was also travelling with the pair to China before catching another flight to London. They had also been expected to carry some of the pounamu.
But that arrangement was abandoned when the defendants realised that person's luggage would be heading directly to London.
The prosecution asked Zhang whether he accepted that at that point, there was too much pounamu for just two people.
“If you count it as two people, yes,” he said.
Zhang told the court he still believed the weight of the pounamu could be shared between the group, even if the others weren’t carrying stones.
When questioned by Customs officers at the airport, it appeared Li shared the same view.
A recording of the interview was played in court.
“Every person is allowed 5kg, and there were four of us, so really, it was lawful,” she said through an interpreter.
The court heard Zhang weighed most of the stones at home before arriving at the airport and recorded a total weight of “less than 15kg”.
But not all the stones were weighed by him.
Zhang claimed he’d forgotten a stone was already in one of the bags and he didn’t think it was necessary to weigh two smaller stones.
He accepted that it was his idea to get the pounamu to China.
The meaning of "single exporter" is pivotal in the case.
Asked about it, Li said: "Two different concepts - exportation and I carried myself."
She was then asked if she was saying she didn’t export it because she didn’t sell it for money, to which she replied "Yes".
Closing submissions are expected in about two weeks, with a verdict to follow.
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