China's new plan offers opportunity for Canada
By RENA LI in Toronto | China Daily Global | Updated: 2021-05-27 09:37
Canadian businesses and services can benefit from China's current 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), said China's ambassador in Ottawa, Cong Peiwu.
The plan can bring major benefits to Canada's comparative advantages in various economic sectors, he said in speaking at a virtual briefing to members of the Canada China Business Council, or CCBC, about business opportunities in China over the next five years.
China's economy expanded by 2.3 percent in 2020 to become the world's only major economy to grow that year despite the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Total retail sales of consumer goods exceeded $6 trillion, and the import and export of goods rose 1.9 percent. The country became the largest recipient of foreign direct investment, or FDI, in the world, Cong said.
Canada's FDI sank by 37.7 percent in 2020, while its direct investment in China increased by 95.9 percent. The total export value of Canada dropped by 11.8 percent, while its goods exports to China increased by 8.1 percent.
"It shows that the Chinese economy and the Canadian economy are highly complementary," the ambassador told the briefing.
China aims to pursue a high-quality environment in the Five-Year Plan, which can bolster Canada's comparative advantages in education, finance, insurance, automobile manufacturing, artificial intelligence, aerospace, information, communication, clean technology, and health industries, the envoy said.
China will host the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing and views the Games as an opportunity to promote ice and snow sports, which are also a Canadian strength.
"Canada has developed the industry of winter sports. Canadian businesses are welcome to seize the opportunity and to promote our bilateral cooperation in the winter sports industry," he said.
Asked when China will lift the temporary suspension of meat imports from Canada, the ambassador said government agencies are working on the technical issues and it is hoped they will be resolved "sooner rather than later".
Sarah Kutulakos, executive director of the CCBC, said many Canadian companies want to export more goods to China, given that Chinese people love to have high-quality products from around the world, including Canada.
