Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaks to members of the business community in Hangzhou, China. Photo: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld Hangzhou, China — Whatever the irritants in Canada’s relationship with China, Prime Minister Stephen Harper received a warm welcome Friday morning when he met business leaders in one of China’s wealthiest and most dynamic cities.
“China is now Canada’s second largest trading partner and we’ve experienced double-digit export growth,” the prime minister said in a brief Chamber of Commerce-like speech before a meeting between Chinese businessmen and a Canadian trade delegation.
“Half a million Canadians” were now dependent on trade with China for their jobs, the prime minister said. He provoked a laugh when he added, “that doesn’t seem like many jobs here…”
“We see tremendous opportunities in energy, other natural resources, aviation and seafood” among other opportunities.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaks with the Party Secretary of Zhejiang Province Xia Baolong at the Zhejian State Guest House. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
When the prime minister arrived at a conference hall in this Pacific port city the audience greeted him by rising en masse to shoot video of him with their cellphones.
“Canadians tend to be risk adverse” to trade outside North America, Trade Minister Ed Fast said in explaining to the audience the challenge for the government of encouraging trade.
“There is no bigger market to want to be a success in than the China market.”
Harper arrived in China on Thursday evening for what will be a four-day visit — his third to China.
There was no mention by anyone Friday concerning Canadian complaints about cyber espionage or the detention — for three months now — by China of a Canadian couple who have been accused of spying.
The prime minister is scheduled to fly to Beijing Friday night to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Many announcements about Canada-China trade could be expected during the visit, said Fast who was taking part in his sixth visit to China in three years.
The centrepiece of the visit is expected to be a deal that will allow Toronto to become hub for trading in the Chinese yuan. It would be the first such currency arrangement in North America. As Canadian businesses would no longer have to convert Canadian dollars to yuan through US dollars first but make the conversion directly from the Canadian currency to the yuan, the arrangement would save tens of millions of dollars a year in banking fees.
No comments:
Post a Comment