President Hu due in Canada for visit
(AFP)
Updated: 2005-09-08 09:55

In Ottawa, Hu will be greeted by Canadian Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson, the first Chinese-Canadian to be appointed to the post. She was born in Hong Kong and immigrated to Canada as a child with her family in 1942 to escape World War II.

The following day, Hu will meet with Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin to discuss climate change, energy, science and technology, investment, trade, tourism and human rights.

China is Canada's second-biggest trading partner behind the United States.

Trade with China could further increase as trade spats with the United States have encouraged Canadian companies to look elsewhere, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew told AFP.

In 2004, Canadian exports to China grew by 40 percent while the reverse movement of goods increased 30 percent, often displacing other Asian imports, he said.

"It's a significant and dynamic trade relationship," Pettigrew said.

China is eager to buy Canadian natural resources to feed its burgeoning economy, particularly oil from Alberta province's oil sands, the second biggest oil deposit in the world, and uranium for 40 nuclear reactors it plans to build by 2020 to generate electricity and reduce its reliance on coal, he said.

Last month, China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) won a bidding war to buy Canadian oil company PetroKazakhstan for a whopping 4.18 billion US dollars.

"This visit is an opportunity to strengthen our personal relationship and our commitment to forming strategic partnerships between our two countries," Martin said in announcing the visit last week.

"It's an opportunity to make an impression on a leader who will have a very, very strong influence on the development of China for the next decade," said a senior Canadian foreign affairs official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"What is really key during this visit is how we shape his personal view of Canada and Canada's role as a partner for China."

Martin and Hu will also sign an air travel agreement that will increase flights between China and Canada threefold, officials said, hoping this will bring more Chinese tourists to Canada and boost trade and investment between the two nations.

There are nearly one million Chinese-Canadians living mostly in Toronto and Vancouver, two cities Hu will visit this month, who have helped build ties between the two countries.

"Canada is in a rather unique position among G8 countries in that we have the largest Chinese population per capita possibly of any western country. What makes the relationship grow are the people," a senior Canadian official said.

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