Roundup: China in Canada's sights as cross-country trade consultations end
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E-mail Xinhua, August 29, 2012
Roundup: China in Canada's sights as cross-country trade consultations end
by Christopher Guly
OTTAWA, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Canadian government concluded Tuesday a two-week round of cross-country consultations with industry and business leaders in eight cities to "better align Canada's trade and investment objectives in large, dynamic and fast-growing priority markets," according to a government release.
The outreach initiative was intended to "refresh" the government's Global Commerce Strategy, which Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative government launched in 2007 "to position Canada for long-term prosperity."
In it, the government identified 13 priority markets around the world seen to have the greatest potential for growth of Canadian opportunities and interests. China, with its economy characterized by Ottawa as "a dragon with many tails," is viewed a "key link in global value chains" as a result of its position as a regional manufacturing hub and research-and-development center.
Earlier this month, Canadian International Trade Minister Ed Fast and Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming released the results of a study that evaluated potential bilateral economic " complementarities" matching the interests and requirements of one country with the capacity to supply in the other and highlighted Canada's strengths in the natural resources and agricultural production sectors as a significant export opportunity to China's "large and rapidly growing market."
But the study pointed out trade and investment between Canada and China "represents a relatively small proportion of each nation 's overall international economic activity an important indication of the untapped potential for further growth in the relationship."
Currently, China is Canada's second-largest, single-nation trading partner in goods but trails the United States, which accounts for more than half of all exports to and imports from Canada. Canada, meanwhile, ranks 13th among China's trading partners in goods.
However, the Canadian government also points out that trade with China, Canada's "most important market in Asia", is growing.
Last year, two-way merchandise trade reached nearly 65 billion Canadian dollars, and Canadian exports to China rose by 27 percent from 2010, while Canadian imports from China increased by 8 percent.
China now ranks as Canada's third largest merchandise export market, after the U.S. and the United Kingdom, with Canadian merchandise exports to China rising by 77 percent over the past five years a rate more than 50 percent greater than to each of Canada's other top four trading partners.
Canada sells China more softwood lumber from the province of British Columbia than it does to the U.S., Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird told an Ottawa business audience Tuesday at the conclusion of the Global Commerce Strategy consultations.
While he deferred to his ministerial colleagues in industry and trade as to the possibility of a Canada-China free trade agreement, Baird, who visited China four times in the last year, praised the signing in July of a supplementary protocol to the 1994 Canada- China Nuclear Cooperation Agreement that will help Canadian uranium companies increase their exports to China.
He added that Canada is keen to get the Canada-China Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement signed after it was agreed to in principle during Harper's visit to Beijing in February.
At the end of 2010, Chinese foreign direct investment into Canada reached approximately 14 billion Canadian dollars or nearly three times Canada's investment in China at about 5 billion dollars.
Canada is also looking at other economic opportunities in Asia.
Fast, who also serves as Canada's Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, is in Thailand as part of a four-nation trade mission with stops in Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar, marking the first visit there by a Canadian trade minister.
He will also sit down with economic ministers of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) who are meeting this week in Siem Reap, Cambodia.
With a market of over 608 million consumers, ASEAN countries represent Canada's seventh-largest trading partner. Enditem (1 U. S. dollar = 0.9879 Canadian dollars)
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