On June 28th, local time, British Columbia Premier David Eby stated before departing for a visit to China that his purpose of visiting China was to promote deeper trade relations between the province and China, and to foster cooperation in fields such as forestry, agriculture, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and tourism. The visit also aimed to diversify trade by expanding markets outside of the United States. This will be the first visit to China by a British Columbia premier since 2018.
According to media reports from Canada's CTV News and CityNews, before departing, Yin Dawei said in an interview at Vancouver International Airport that this visit to China is his first trip to China for trade purposes. It is also part of British Columbia's goal to double international trade volume within the next decade.
"We hope to expand the scale of international trade outside the United States to twice its current size. The United States has always been a very good trading partner for us, but we rely too heavily on the U.S." He added that one of the goals of this trade visit to China is to address the severe impact of U.S. tariffs on the forestry industry in British Columbia. At the same time, he hopes to see the Chinese tariffs that currently affect this province (including the seafood industry) be lifted, as many local jobs also depend on economic and trade relations with China. He expresses a desire for further expansion of bilateral trade cooperation.
Yin Dawei stated that China is the second largest trading partner of British Columbia, and he will visit Beijing, Shanghai and Wenzhou with Mike Farnworth, Minister of Transportation and Public Transit for British Columbia, to discuss how to create jobs and opportunities for the province.
However, due to the need to return to Canada for final negotiations regarding memorandums of understanding on major infrastructure projects as required by the federal government, Yin Dawei will end his visit to China early. Meanwhile, Furness will continue to travel to Guangzhou to complete this trade mission.
Source Image: British Columbia Premier Mark Salvi IC Photo
CTV News reported that Yin Dawei said, "We have extensive connections with China, especially in terms of cultural exchanges. There are 500,000 Chinese Canadians in British Columbia alone. It is these grassroots connections that have helped us through some difficult times."
He stated that his visit would focus on promoting the forestry products of British Columbia and the energy industry related to liquefied natural gas. Additionally, he will discuss cooperation opportunities in timber trade, agricultural products, and tourism, which could contribute to the economic growth of the province. He mentioned that Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau has opened the door to expanding trade with China, and he will ‘sit down at the negotiating table’ to promote such cooperation.
He stated that one of the most important goals of this visit is to hold talks with China National Petroleum and Gas Corporation, to discuss the expansion plan for the second phase of the LNG Canada liquefied natural gas project in Kitimat.
He said that the second-phase LNG Canada project is entering the final investment decision stage, and the final investment decision is expected to be made in September this year. The project is a consortium of enterprises from four countries, including the Chinese enterprise involved through China National Petroleum Corporation.
The project is expected to make a final investment decision in September. It will generate approximately 28 billion Canadian dollars in provincial revenue for British Columbia, which will be used to pay for public service expenditures. Therefore, meeting with them and understanding whether they still have any concerns before making the final investment decision is one of the specific goals we hope to achieve during this visit.
According to CityNews, Yin Dawei also hopes to use the LNG Canada Phase II project as a bargaining chip during negotiations with the federal government, in order to oppose the potential oil pipeline project proposed by the Alberta government, which would run along the coast of British Columbia.
He believes that this agreement will ensure that the province he leads can obtain a ‘fair share’ of significant projects that serve national interests, and that it will be treated on an equal footing with Quebec, Ontario, and Alberta in terms of treatment for such projects. He also expressed the hope that the negotiations can be completed as soon as possible, with the agreement being announced at the beginning of July.
According to Yin Dawei, before the visit to China, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) provided a briefing to the delegation, ensuring that ‘our team had a full understanding of how to minimize risks during the visit and at the same time maximize opportunities’.
He said: "Regrettably, under the current international environment, this is increasingly becoming something we must do."
Regarding the failure to announce the full itinerary of the visit to China, Yin David stated that this was done to prevent competitors from other provinces and countries from gaining an “unfair advantage”. The purpose of this visit to China is to secure more clients and business partnerships for enterprises in British Columbia.
He said that after returning to his country, he would try to disclose in a public manner the details of the meetings held during his visit to China. However, he also pointed out that some of these meetings are “relatively more sensitive,” so it is not possible to disclose all details.
Earlier this year, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited China. During his visit, both Canada and China reached broad consensus on deepening economic and trade cooperation. They signed the "China-Canada Economic and Trade Cooperation Roadmap", establishing preliminary joint arrangements for addressing bilateral economic and trade issues.
During this visit, Canadi successfully obtained conditions to reduce tariffs on agricultural products and food. In return, Canada reduced tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and allowed 49,000 electric vehicles to enter its market each year. Although the agreement on electric vehicles is for five years, with the quota increasing year by year, reaching 73,000 units by 2030, the tariff reduction on rapeseed products only lasts until the end of 2026.
On June 25, Canadian International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu revealed during an interview with CTV News while visiting Japan that he will have a meeting with the Chinese side this fall. He expressed hope that discussions could be held regarding further reductions in tariffs on Canadian rapeseed, peas, and seafood.
Reports indicate that this meeting is likely to take place in November this year in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China. This city will also be the venue for the APEC summit hosted by the Chinese side this year.
Xidu said that the Canadian government wants to provide certainty for its farmers. He will sit down with Chinese counterparts to discuss this issue. When asked whether China hopes to gain more market access for its electric vehicles in exchange for better trade conditions for Canadian rapeseed products, Xidu gave his response.
"I want to say that this might not be a topic I would discuss through the media," he said. "But we need to be clear that we will continue to discuss with the Chinese side how to carry out more cooperation in the economic field."
Xidu stated that China hopes to clarify the specific operating procedures for the sale of electric vehicles. As of now, the relevant vehicles are still in the process of being certified by the Canadian Transportation Department, and they have not yet been available for sale in the Canadian market.
