Invercargill City Council chief executive Richard King was on a tightrope amid criticism over his decision to allow four council staffers to travel to China and buy Christmas lights.

The Invercargill City Council is copping criticism from both within and outside its ranks after sending three staff to China to buy Christmas lights for the CBD.

Invercargill Santa Parade organiser Alice Pottinger said the CBD needed new Christmas lights, but it didn't need to send three people to China to get them.

"Absolutely ridiculous."

"What's the phone, skype and every other modern communication device [for]?

If it was really necessary to send council staff to China then one person should have gone, "like any private business would do".

City councillor Rebecca Amundsen said she was never asked whether council staff should go to China to buy the lights.

"I would have liked to have asked the question of why we couldn't buy them over the internet," Amundsen said.

She also questioned why the council had not purchased Christmas lights locally or from within New Zealand, saying she believed in supporting the local economy.

The boss of a New Zealand company that sells Christmas lights also questioned why the council had not purchased the lights from within New Zealand.

Mark Williams, owner of Flexilight in the Hawkes Bay, said he imported Christmas lights from China and was the biggest seller of Christmas lights to councils in New Zealand.

He understood the Invercargill City Council had investigated buying Christmas lights from within New Zealand more than a year ago but had not gone through with it.

It was "really hard" to get safety approved lights out of China and the council ran the risk of buying unsuitable lights by doing the job itself and trying to buy them on the cheap, he indicated.

"We would have brought them in lights at special rates because that's what we do for Christmas lights."

His company had provided Christmas lights to the Southland District Council for the Te Anau main street, he said.

Invercargill City Council chief executive Richard King, when asked why the council had not bought the lights over the internet, said a large volume of the correct lights was required and he believed the best approach was to discuss the issue directly with the manufacturer.

"It's the complexity of them, it's not just like buying a led bulb. There's all different types in different patterns, varieties, colours."

The council wanted quality lights at a good price that would last for years, and roading manager Russell Pearson would be looking at the health and safety aspect of the lights during the trip, he said.

He was confident the council staff on the China trip had the knowledge between them to get a good deal and get appropriate Christmas lights, or bring back the details for the councillors to approve.

Asked why city councillors were not asked their thoughts before the staff left for China, he said: I didn't think it was a particularly big deal, we need Christmas lights and we need lighting for the [Queens] park so we go and source the best ones available."

He did not know how much the lights may cost and said the council had not bought locally because it wanted to get the best deal.

"We have a sister city agreement [with Suqian where council staff went to buy the lights].

"The government is encouraging trade with China, most of the lights come from China, I am not aware of anyone manufacturing them in New Zealand and we get the best deal we can."

The council staff in China for six days to buy replacements for Invercargill's aged Corbett Christmas lights are finance director Dean Johnston, graphic designer Colleen Montgomery and engineer Russell Pearson. Parks manager Robin Pagan is also on the trip to look at lights of a different variety, for the possible installation in Queens Park. Pagan's main reason for going on the trip is to show off a concept plan to build a New Zealand/ Invercargill theme park in Suqian.

The airfares for the four were $13,500 and the remaining cost of the trip is unknown at this stage.