Archives - Jean Chrétien

Canada-China Business Council Dinner in Honour of Premier Li Peng

Premier Li, your visit is all the more historic because it is taking place on a special date. An important anniversary. Twenty-five years ago to the day, on October 13, 1970, Canada and China established diplomatic relations.

Looking back, historians describe this as a critical moment in ending China's isolation from the world. And it is easy to see why. The links between our countries had been long and historic, dating back to the infancy of Canada.

The Chinese community in Canada had long played an important role in our economic and cultural well being. In fact, they helped build our country from sea to sea. And they continue to make an enormous contribution to the fabric and every-day vitality of Canada.

They are an example of the rich diversity that is so central to Canada and to what being a Canadian is all about. But these historic links and roots alone, cannot explain that decisive moment twenty-five years ago. Our mutual recognition set a pattern that other nations followed. It led the way to the entry of China into the United Nations the following year.

I am proud to have served in the Canadian government that opened this historic door. And tonight I want to pay tribute to the Canadian leaders who had the foresight and determination to see through this accomplishment. The Prime Minister of the day, the Right Honourable Pierre Elliott Trudeau and the Foreign Minister, the Honourable Mitchell Sharp. They are here with us tonight. And I think it is fair to say that we would not be here tonight were it not for them. Not only did their actions twenty-five years ago help shape world history, they proved that Canada can play an important role in the world.

They were guided by firm principles twenty-five years ago. Those principles remain as valid and vital today.

We in Canada believe that true security is built on a foundation of stability.

We believe that international stability grows as countries learn about each other, visit each other, trade with each other, cooperate with each other.

We believe nations feel most secure when they see that the countless connections between them work to their mutual advantage. That engagement and dialogue - not isolation and angry words - are the building blocks of peace and security. That responsible states settle their disputes peacefully. And discuss their differences with respect.

These principles remain constant. They are the bedrock of our foreign policy. And they inspire our relations with China as much today as they did twenty-five years ago. In fact, they are the foundation for a new renaissance between our countries. And a renaissance is exactly what it is. This very dinner in testimony to that.

The organization that is hosting us - the Canada China Business Council - and their membership, thousands of business people across Canada, are eloquent proof of the flowering of a relationship that began twenty-five years ago.

The economic bonds they have built between our countries link us more strongly, more tightly than ever. China now ranks number five among our trading partners. And the economic ties that link us are growing daily.

And our growing links are not confined to economic areas. We have made it easier to talk across borders, to travel to distant countries, to live, work and study abroad.

There are international networks on economic, social and political issues that lie outside the direct control of government.

Writers and journalists. Actors and athletes. People who make friends abroad, and continue to stay in touch -- now easier than ever through E-mail and the Internet.

The more private citizens connect across borders, the more they understand and appreciate each other. And the more we can learn from each other's values.

And that is good for all of us. As governments, it is up to us to nurture those connections. To help them along. And to ensure the people of our nations benefit from them.

For example, last year in Beijing, Premier Li and I signed a letter of intent to develop six new CIDA projects with China. Some of those projects are up and running. These important and worthwhile projects include the training of senior judges in China and the promotion of women's rights.

Work is proceeding on seventeen new development projects that will focus on economic partnership, environment, and good governance.

Projects such as these, large and small, are defining our relationship every day. And our governments are helping to nurture and sustain them. Helping them grow and flourish.

Our governments are also working together in multilateral organizations to accelerate the bonds that link not just our countries, but countries throughout the world.

That is why Canada worked so hard for the founding of the World Trade Organization and is working so closely on China's accession to the WTO.

Last November, in Indonesia, the leaders of the APEC committed to a free trade zone across the Pacific by the year 2020.

China has long known the economic potential of the Pacific region. But Canadians for too long had our gaze fixed almost exclusively on Europe and the United States.

Our eyes only started shifting to the Pacific twenty-five years ago, with that historic mutual recognition.

And today we are a full, active member of that Pacific community. When APEC negotiates the largest, most dynamic free trade zone in the world, Canada will be there -- because we are a Pacific country.

As Prime Minister, I can tell you that these developments are awakening not just our knowledge and interest in Asia and the Pacific - but our own self-knowledge as Canadians. And our confidence in ourselves and our abilities.

Of course, the most spectacular example of this is the Team Canada trade mission to China one year ago. I had the honour of leading the Team Canada mission - along with our provincial premiers and territorial leaders, who are with us tonight. I want to salute them - and their commitment to working together for the benefit of Canadians.

The Canada China Business Council played a key role in the success of Team Canada. In fact, many of the business people who were the backbone of Team Canada are also with us here tonight.

And to say that Team Canada scored would be the understatement of the decade. It signed more than $8 billion in deals between Canadian businesses and Chinese partners.

And the impact of Team Canada is still being felt. Canadian firms are reporting an additional $850 million of business flowing directly from the initiatives of last November.

What does this mean for Canadians? More than almost any other country in the developed world, Canada depends on exports for jobs and economic growth.

A growing economy. Good, well-paying jobs with a future. In industries of the future.

That is why as Canadians we are actively seeking our place in the world's fastest growing markets - like China. Markets where many are lining up... but only the best are breaking through.

But Team Canada has meant more than dollars or jobs or even quality of life to Canadians. It has meant a new sense of national pride for Canadians in what we can accomplish together. I know how proud Canadians were of Team Canada last year. Seeing their prime minister and provincial and territorial leaders working together - as a team. Not to fight. Or argue over turf. Or score political points.

But to focus on the number one priority of all Canadians: bringing home jobs for Canadians. Cooperating. Pulling together. Working as a team.

I think it can truly be said that in discovering the full potential of China, we rediscovered our faith in ourselves. But the partnership and teamwork of Team Canada succeeded because it was a partnership not just among myself and the premiers - but between government leaders and the hundreds of dynamic business leaders who were part of the team.

For example, when a major engineering firm here in Quebec teamed up with competitors in Ontario to form a special partnership, they beat out heavyweight companies from the USA., Japan, Germany.

On their own, competing against each other as well as against foreign companies, success would have been much harder.

In another project, we saw another engineering company here in Quebec form a partnership with two government-owned hydro-electric utilities in two different provinces. Their deal in China will generate sales of half a billion dollars in Canadian - provided by companies in at least two provinces.

Just think of it - two provincially-owned utilities, joining with a private sector company, with support from the federal government ... It is hard to get more Canadian than that!

And those successes are continuing. A Canadian firm is on the verge of a joint venture that will make it one of only three foreign companies able to write insurance policies in China. Our banks are setting up offices in China, and helping their clients establish joint ventures with Chinese partners.

It is these success stories, the unprecedented opportunities they are opening up, and the tens of thousands of jobs they are creating, that are the true and lasting legacy of Team Canada in China.

Canadians were proud to see the spirit and success of Team Canada. And they have every right to demand that we in the federal, provincial and territorial governments work together again - with the private sector - to create new jobs and new opportunities for Canadians in the export sector. That is why I will be leading a second Team Canada outing to India early in the new year.

Because, make no mistake about it, Canada is very much an active citizen of the world. And when we pull together, as we have in Team Canada, we can take on the best in the world - and succeed.

A world in which international relations are symbolized not by diplomats or age-old pomp, but by simple and direct communications between individuals, by the free exchange of ideas, by thousands and millions of individual friendships.

Twenty-five years ago, all this would have seemed almost unimaginable. But the bold diplomatic leadership that carried the day twenty-five years ago, led us directly to this moment.

Tonight, as we celebrate the anniversary of that bold breakthrough, let us also pay tribute to the thousands of Chinese and Canadians, who in their own way, have defined that relationship over the last quarter century. And let us look ahead to the millions over the next twenty-five years who will make a difference, improving lives in both our countries.