Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07OTTAWA213
2007-02-05 22:01:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Ottawa
Cable title:  

CANADIAN GOVERNMENT INCREASINGLY FOCUSED ON CHINA

Tags:  EFIN ETRD CA CH 
pdf how-to read a cable
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DE RUEHOT #0213 0362201
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 052201Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY OTTAWA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4930
INFO RUCNCAN/ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL PRIORITY 1489
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 3298
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI PRIORITY 0124
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASH DC PRIORITY
UNCLAS OTTAWA 000213 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/CAN AND EAP/CM
STATE PLEASE PASS TO USTR

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EFIN ETRD CA CH
SUBJECT: CANADIAN GOVERNMENT INCREASINGLY FOCUSED ON CHINA


UNCLAS OTTAWA 000213

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR WHA/CAN AND EAP/CM
STATE PLEASE PASS TO USTR

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EFIN ETRD CA CH
SUBJECT: CANADIAN GOVERNMENT INCREASINGLY FOCUSED ON CHINA



1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and
International Trade Minister David Emerson recently returned
to Canada from separate, overlapping trade and economic trips
to China. Both trips were described in the press and by
government officials in positive terms. Excluding an
agreement to cooperate on scientific research, the trips
resulted in no apparent deliverables for Canada. However,
they did serve to placate Canadian business leaders who had
been concerned that the Canadian Government was not paying
enough attention to China. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) Department of Finance officials told econoff that
Finance Minister Flaherty's January 16 - 22 trip to Beijing
and Shanghai had three goals: to support bilateral trade, to
encourage access for Canadian financial firms in China, and
to advance the overall Canada - China relationship. Colleen
Barnes, Department of Finance Strategic Planning and Trade
Senior Chief said that Flaherty,s trip was productive and
that he had good exchanges with Chinese regulators and senior
leaders. However, she added that although Canada had raised
its market access concerns at high levels, she didn't know
"if they would get anywhere."


3. (SBU) Martin Charron, Deputy Director, Asia and Oceania
Commercial Relations, Department of Foreign Affairs and
International Trade, said that Minister Emerson was very
pleased with his January 14 ) 19 trip to China where he
visited Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. The Minister was
accompanied by business leaders in the transportation and
logistics services sector. Charron explained that the
Minister Emerson and Xu Guanhua, the Chinese Minister of
Science and Technology, signed a science and technology
cooperation agreement that establishes a secretariat for
encouraging cooperation and allocates $5.25 million (CAD) for
implementation. Charron indicated however, that there was
little substance to the agreement and it was unclear exactly
what, if anything, it would lead to.


4. (U) According to the results of an annual Department of
Foreign Affairs survey, Canadians increasingly view China as
important to Canada. The survey asked Canadians to list the
two countries that they believed to be most important to
Canada. The United States was most frequently listed, named
by 35 percent of respondents. China came in second, at 25
percent. Last year, China was in third place, listed by only
16 percent of those polled.

--------------
Trade Statistics
--------------


5. (U) All statistics are from the U.S. Census Bureau and
Statistics Canada.

Annual Exports to China (2005): 5,893 million USD
Annual Imports From China (2005): 24,361 million USD

Exports to China, as a percentage of all exports (2005):
1.63
Imports from China, as a percentage of all imports (2005):
7.75

China is Canada's fourth largest export market and second
largest provider of imports.

Visit Canada's Classified Web Site at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/ottawa

WILKINS