Calgary: Wanted, more investors from China

Clean or renewable energy such as wind and solar have generated interest in China because of the mainland's pollution problems. Yin noted that 32 percent of Canada's total installed wind generation capacity is operated by Calgary-based companies and that Alberta has 20 million tonsof annual waste in potential feedstock which is suitable for bio-energy development.

Agriculture and agribusiness represent real opportunities for Calgary/Alberta to lure more Chinese FDI. The raw numbers show that China has to feed 1.3 billion mouths every day. "In China there is concern over food safety and our food products like beef have a good safety record," said Yin.

The increasing use of technology in agriculture should also help Calgary according to Houlden. "Agriculture has become very high-tech like in seed genetics," he said. "We have scientists working on things in that area that would be of interest to China."

Houlden said Alberta should also look into increasing the export of processed food products to China. "We could even encourage a Chinese company to set up a company here and ship the product back to the mainland," he said.

Yin said Calgary has also developed a thriving financial services industry. Because so many energy heavyweights have offices in the city, "we have skilled workers in investment banking, private equity and corporate financing," she said.

Calgary has also developed a deep pool of accounting and legal personnel that could expand their work to other industries. "Don't forget that the cost of doing business in Calgary is cheaper than it is in Toronto or New York," she added.