THE Canadian Commercial Corporation would establish a Shenzhen representative office to facilitate partnerships for Canadian companies here, a ceremony in Guangzhou was told Wednesday.
The office would focus mainly on commercial ventures, partnerships and research, combining the strengths of Shenzhen and Canada to create more business opportunities, Stockwell Day, Canadian Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, told the ceremony organized by the Canadian Consulate General in Guangzhou.
“Shenzhen is a leading city in telecommunications, energy and high technology in China. We would like to build more cooperative projects with Shenzhen firms in these areas,” said Day.
The office will be set up in central Futian District and is expected to open this year, said Robert Gentles, vice consul and commercial commissioner.
The opening of five other offices was also announced. These would be in Shenyang in Liaoning, Qingdao in Shandong, Nanjing in Jiangsu, Chengdu in Sichuan and Wuhan in Hubei.
Canada signed agreements with the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology for six projects worth a total of C$6.87 million (US$5.64 million) covering a wide variety of fields from wastewater treatment to wireless technology.
Canada has already set up trade offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chongqing. In 2008, it exported products worth C$10.4 billion to China, 9 percent more than in the previous year. Imported products totaled C$42.6 billion, 11 percent more than in 2007.
Wang Yuanyuan