At long last…. Harper to vist China in Dec
PMO announced the long-overdue Harper’s visit to China, which will happen in Dec. Remember the Tories have always been saying that Harper will be visiting China in November, around the time of APEC? Well, since Obama has confirmed a trip to China in mid-Nov, guess Canada couldn’t compete with our southern neighbour? ;)
PRIME MINISTER STEPHEN HARPER TO TRAVEL TO CHINA
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced that he will visit China from December 2 to 6.
“Our two countries enjoy a growing partnership, sharing significant interests in trade and investment, the environment and regional security,” said the Prime Minister. “Canada is committed to a strong relationship with China that reflects our mutual respect and the need for practical cooperation.”
The Prime Minister’s visit follows 18 ministerial-level visits to China since 2006. This year, Canada is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the establishment of a Trade Commissioner Service office in Shanghai. In June 2008, Canada announced that six new trade offices would be opened in China. Two are operational in Shenzhen and Chengdu. The remaining four in Shenyang, Qingdao, Nanjing and Wuhan are expected to be opened by the end of this year. In 2010, Canada will celebrate 40 years of diplomatic relations with China.
China has one of the world’s fastest growing economies. It is Canada’s third largest export destination after the United States and the United Kingdom. The strength of ties between the two countries is also reflected in the estimated 1.2 million Canadians of Chinese origin and the more than 42,000 Chinese students who are currently studying in Canada.
It would be great if the Canadian government can put more resources into the visa offices in China to ease the application backlog so as to allow more qualified Chinese skilled workers to settle in Canada. Also, I would like to see Canada to promote its education in China so as to attract more Chinese students to study in Canada since it’s now easier for students to apply for residency. The other thing is Canada should try to negotiate with China to import Chinese workers to satisfy its labour shortage. These can definitely enhance the bilateral ties between the two countries.
whoa,it will be too boring to live in Canada surrounded with omnipresent chinese skilled or labour workers and students under whites.if so,i would prefer to live in china.hopefully the real bilateral ties between china and canada won’t simply appear in this way.
dn, how does your ideal canada look like? which parts of canada make you feel not bored? just curious…
well,i have been displaced to vancouver by curiosity and fantasy about #1 city in the world per advertisement .i am interested in knowing different culture,environment,customs of local people. it is no point for me to live in a similar environment like a certain city of china.i think downtown vancouver is less boring compare with richmond which is called a chinese city.