Canadian International Trade Minister Stockwell Day has called his just-concluded trip to China a success.
Day during the visit launched two new trade offices to help Canadian companies gain access to one of the world's fastest-growing economies.
During a teleconference call on his last day of the trip Thursday, the trade minister said he was impressed by China's "pretty ambitious, aggressive" stimulus package that will be used to build the country.
A great number of opportunities exist in China for Canadian companies in sectors such as construction, agriculture, machinery and equipment, and technology, he said.
"You can read the statistics and get the briefings from officials in terms of the growth that is happening in China. But when you are actually there and see it, it is profound," he said.
"They are not just building businesses. They are building cities. That means they are going to have huge needs for infrastructure, for energy."
During his eight-day, seven-city tour, Day launched Canadian trade offices in Chengdu and Shenzhen. An additional four trade offices -- in Nanjing, Qingdao, Shenyang and Wuhan -- are expected to open before the end of the year.
In Beichuan in southwest China's Sichuan Province hit hard by a devastating earthquake on May 12, 2008, Day unveiled plans for a new senior citizens' resident center made from Canadian wood to house survivors of the earthquake.
He also announced the signing of seven construction contracts between Canadian and Chinese companies and the launch of six new research initiatives in science and technology in Beijing.
Canada already has a trade presence in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chongqing.
Canada is eager to grow business with its second largest trading partner in part because of the dwindling buying power of its largest trading partner, the U.S., Wenran Jiang, political science professor and Canada-China relations expert at the University of Alberta, said in a recent interview with Xinhua.
It is estimated that Canada's economy will not begin to emerge from recession until the United States recovers; some 70 percent of all trade Canada does is with America. But resources-rich Canada is also looking to diversify.
"In order to have commodity prices and other resources prices to go up, the key factor is not the United States, but China," Jiang said, "China is the manufacturing powerhouse of the world."
The World Bank is forecasting that the Chinese economy will grow by 6.5 percent this year and expects it to really take off in2010. Day thinks it might grow by as much as eight percent, adding that he is satisfied with China's stimulus package.
Professor Paul Evans, chair of the Liu Institute for Global Studies at the University of British Columbia, agrees that Canada has to do more to encourage Chinese investment.
As an example, Evans points to a 2.5-billion Canadian dollar (about 2 billion U.S. dollar) investment in the Pacific Gateway, a plan to build transportation routes from Canada's west coast that would save anywhere from three to seven days in travel time throughout Canada, the U.S. Midwest and beyond.
He also mentioned the 14 visits to China by Canadian ministers interested in boosting commerce over the last few years, adding that the political and economic sides of diplomacy go hand in hand.
"We have to get this back up to the highest level with the tone of dealing with issues of mutual interest with mutual respect," Evans said.
The volume of bilateral trade between China and Canada reached 34.52 billion U.S. dollars in 2008, an increase of 13.8 percent year-on-year according to statistics from China's General Administration of Customs. Of this, China's exports to Canada stood at 21.79 billion U.S. dollars, up 12.6 percent year-on-year, while China's imports from Canada reached 12.73 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 16 percent year-on-year.
Canada's goal is to triple business with China in the next decade, Day said before his departure for the China trip.
Source: Xinhua
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