New Year, New Opportunities
An article by CCBC Executive Director Sarah Kutulakos, discussing the benefits of increased China and Canada trade, was published in Caifu Magazine on April 4, 2018.
We have officially entered the Year of the Dog. In addition to heralding the start of a prosperous new year, it also marks the 48th year of Canada and China’s trading relationship and offers a chance to reflect on the growing commercial opportunities between our two nations.
When Canada and China first began official diplomatic relations in the early 1970s, China was a largely agrarian country with a fraction of Canada’s per-capita-GDP. Fast forward to today, and China is on track to become the world’s largest economy and home to the single largest and fastest-growing middle-class of 350 million people – 10 times the size of Canada’s entire population.
As China’s economic growth reaches new heights, countries across the globe are scrambling to keep up and capture other emerging markets – and Canada is no exception. Nationally, Canada already conducts $84 billion in bilateral trade with China. In addition, the new Comprehensive Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) agreement, ongoing efforts by the Canadian government to pursue more favorable trade terms in Asia, as well as uncertainty around the future of NAFTA, all point towards a shift to expanding and diversifying our trade with Asia Pacific markets.