Address by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien to a Team Canada Luncheon

February 15, 2001
Shanghai, China

It is a great pleasure to be back in Shanghai for our second Team Canada visit to your incredible city.

Mr. Mayor, I know you have heard this many times, but I cannot help but say it myself. The changes that continue to transform Shanghai and the Yangtze Delta region are staggering.

When the Premiers and I were last here in 1994 we spent all of our time in Puxi. And recall looking across the river to Pudong; a forest of construction cranes and half-built structures scattered across fields. At that time, the fine hotels where Team Canada 2001 is now staying existed only in the imagination of architects. Like many other new landmarks, they are now very real. They are world class. And Shanghai can feel justly proud of having the strategic vision and ability to take them from blueprint to reality. I am also proud that Canadians designed many of the impressive buildings that now grace the Pudong financial district. Including the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

At the time of our last visit, Shanghai was already a magnet for business and investment in what is the most prosperous and business-minded region of China. Many Canadian businesses were already well established. Those firms understood that the "Head of the Dragon" would be the principal engine of growth in the Yangtze Delta.

Shanghai is where China's business is done. The mix of products and services that we export to this region is increasingly diverse and sophisticated. In the mid-1990's, Canada’s exports to Shanghai were largely wood pulp, wheat and fertilizer. These products are still important. But high-value products now dominate our exports. Last year, the number one category of imports from Canada was auto parts for the Shanghai - General Motors assembly operation. And the majority of our exports of advanced machinery and information technologies to China are bound for Shanghai.

Our two governments have a unique relationship. One that is open, honest, friendly. Most, if not all, Canadian provinces and territories have established or are discussing linkages. And new partnerships will be established today between Newfoundland and Zhejiang and Manitoba and Anhui.

But more and more we are being brought closer together by new technology and the curiosity of our people. For example, last New Year Eve's the CN Tower in Toronto and the Shanghai Orient Tower held a twinning ceremony that was beamed to Canadians and Chinese across thousands of miles of space. Families were united over the large screen. And people talked about Norman Bethune and how our friendship has developed over the last thirty years.

Our unique ability to communicate like this -- people-to-people -- gives us an unprecedented opportunity to grow together in the future.

Shanghai and Montreal provide another example of what Canada and China can achieve together. Both are world-class ports and transportation hubs. Both continue to contribute dynamically to the economic revolutions that have shaped the two countries. Yesterday, Mayor Bourque and Mayor Xu renewed a shared vision of the future. One which uses hi-tech tools to help bring the people of Montreal and Shanghai closer together.

The Montreal Garden Technology Pavilion will broaden the Chinese understanding of Canada. And it will be a showplace in which Canadian firms can display their know-how.

Our connections are expanding in tandem with our relations.

When Team Canada visited in 1994, we were pleased to celebrate the establishment of sister port relations between Shanghai and Vancouver. Trade between these gateways has grown dramatically since then, helping to support development of port infrastructure and creating new jobs on both sides of the Pacific. Ships carry Chinese products to Canada and return with over 100 containers each month.

Three months ago, Air Canada began daily direct service between Vancouver and Shanghai. Your only daily trans-Pacific service.

By ship and airplane, trade is flowing in increasing volumes between our nations. But it’s not all telecoms and auto parts. Food products from Canada are increasingly satisfying the appetites of consumers in China. For example, today, we will eat seafood from the East and West Coast, Alberta beef and Quebec maple syrup, served with Ontario wine. All of these products are available locally. Here we are, thousands of kilometers from home, and in just a few minutes we will sit down to a good Canadian meal. Though one served and prepared with many excellent Chinese flourishes.

We are entering a new era in commercial relations. With China's accession to the World Trade Organization, tariffs will drop and access by Chinese consumers and business to our products and services will increase. WTO accession is part of China’s broad agenda of developing the rule of law. To ensure fair and equal treatment before the courts – for both people and companies. Accession will naturally support and strengthen the economic reform process in China. A process which has been led so ably by Premier Zhu. And which has powered the economic and commercial dynamism of the Yangtze Delta.

As a financial center, Shanghai will play a key role in a successful transition to the WTO regime.

The Shanghai Stock Exchange is another important element in this future. Development training and assistance programs for the management and operation of the Exchange have been provided by its Toronto counterpart.

The life insurance sector only really came into existence in China some 8 years ago. And, already, the Zhong Hong Canada-China joint venture life insurance operation employs some 2000 people in its Shanghai operations. I am confident that the strength and experience of Canada in this sector will continue to contribute to a new dimension in social and financial security for the Chinese people.

As I said earlier, Shanghai is where business is done in China. I also want my Chinese friends here today to know that Canada is ready for business in the global economy.

Team Canada 2001 is but one example of our energy and dynamism.

So, too, has been the work of our governments – federal, provincial and territorial – to make Canada one of best places in the world to invest and do business. With balanced budgets, lower public debt, falling taxes, and low interest rates. Indeed, our economy is very well positioned to weather any short term slowing of growth in the U.S.

I know that enterprises in China and in Shanghai are increasingly global in their vision. China Worldbest, an important Chinese textile manufacturer, has committed to plans for a manufacturing facility near Drummondville, Quebec. This project will create more than 350 new skilled jobs, and establish a new beachhead in North America for the Chinese textile industry.

As leading Chinese firms look to further develop their global business plans, I am confident that you will find partnership and support among your Canadian friends. In fact, you need look no further than my Team Canada partners in this room, many of whom are world leaders in their fields.

And I invite you to think of Canada first when it comes to new joint ventures or strategic alliances. To think of Canada first when it comes to meeting your needs for cutting edge technologies and processes. And to think of Canada, first and foremost, as a place for partners who offer not only the best in products and services but also the commitment needed to build relationships of trust, understanding and mutual advantage.

As China continues to grow, to modernize and to open its trade and its economy to the world, I am confident that the importance of the Yangtze Delta region and of the City of Shanghai will only grow.

In October of this year, Shanghai will host the next APEC Summit. A fitting choice of a truly world class city. I look forward to returning for my fourth visit to Shanghai as Prime Minister.

Mayor Xu. I look forward to seeing you again in October. And to seeing for myself the new and magnificent changes that will have taken place since today.

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