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There had been non-governmental trade between the two countries since the 1950s. Formal trade relations between them began in 1961 when China and Canada signed the agreement on wheat. Ever since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1970 and the signing of the Trade Agreement Between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of Canada in 1973, the economic and trade relations between China and Canada had been developing smoothly. The friendly cooperation between them had kept a good momentum. In recent years, the bilateral economic and trade relations have been developing rapidly, the trade pattern between the two has turned from a unitary commodity trade into an all-round, multi-dimensional and comprehensive one. The economic ties have deepened with increasing flows of commodity, service, capital and personnel. In November 1999, China and Canada signed the bilateral agreement on China's accession to WTO.
According to the statistics of Chinese customs, the two-way trade volume between China and Canada was US$6.909 billion in 2000, an increase of 44.9% over that of 1999. China's export to Canada was US$3.158 billion and its import from Canada was US$3.751 billion last year, an increase of 29.8% and 60.7% over the year before respectively. In terms of trade volume, China was Canada's 4th largest trading partner in 1999 and Canada was China's 10th largest one (EU and ASEAN are counted as one identity respectively). In terms of commodity composition, China's major import items from Canada include mechanical and electrical products, grain, fertilizer, paper pulp, and paper. China's major export items to Canada include mechanical and electrical products, garments, textile, shoes, plastic products, toys and suitcases. The composition of China's export goods to Canada has further improved.
Canada's direct investment in China began in 1980. In the first 10 months of 2000, the number of Canada's new investment projects in China was 335. The negotiated investment amount was US$700 million, among which the realized amount of investment was US$200 million. By the end of October of 2000, the accumulated number of direct Canadian investment projects in China approved by the Chinese side reached 4,663. The negotiated investment amount on the Canadian side was US$7.741billion, with US$2.257 billion realized. The Canadian projects are located in over 20 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, including Guangdong, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Fujian, Shangdong, Hebei, Beijing, Shaanxi, Anhui, Xinjiang, Hainan, etc. The main sectors of Canadian investment include: oil exploitation, machinery, electronics, telecommunications, chemicals, light industry, food, textile, agriculture, aquatic farming, real estate, financial insurance, etc. Manufacturing projects account for 80% of the total. From 1983 to the end of 1999, the Chinese Government had altogether approved 126 enterprises of Chinese investment in Canada with a negotiated investment amount of US$33.5 million. In the first 11 months of 2000, the Chinese side approved 9 new enterprises of Chinese investment in Canada. The negotiated investment amount from both sides for the 9 new enterprises was US$ 32.96 million, among which the negotiated Chinese investment amount was US$31.85 million. The sectors of Chinese investment in Canada mainly include resource exploitation, industrial manufacturing, construction contracting, animal husbandry and fishery, food service, scientific and cultural exchange, transportation and consultancy.
The development cooperation between the two governments began in 1982. The General Agreement of Development Cooperation between China and Canada was signed in 1983. The current development cooperation between the two sides covers 84 projects in the fields of farming, forestation, energy, transportation, education, telecommunication, environmental protection, human resource development, economic system reform and poverty alleviation. The negotiated investment amount on the Canadian side was C$560 million.
(Chinese Foreign Ministry, November, 2003)
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