Let me first of all say how honoured we are to have Chairman Wang here today for these important meetings. I am very happy to be here, and we are delighted that President Jiang is here on a state visit.

It is a real pleasure to see so many old friends. Jim Kelleher and I used to stand on opposite sides of the House of Commons, but today we stand side by side, and I have to tell you, Jim, I much prefer it this way.

I note from your program that I am the Canadian keynote speaker. I always considered it to be a great honour to be a keynote speaker, until it was pointed out to me that the keynote is the lowest note on the musical scale!

I will make every effort not to make these remarks the low point of your meetings!

Let me begin by thanking the Canada-China Business Council for the tremendous work you are doing to promote trade and investment between our two countries. Few nations hold the potential or the promise for Canadian businesses that China does, and through your efforts, and those of others, we are demonstrating our commitment to realize that potential.

Whether it was organizing the Prime Minister's successful Team Canada visit in 1994, or playing a key role in Premier Bouchard's recent "Mission Quebec," the Council has helped to hold the lantern and light the way for many of us.

Today, I would like to speak briefly about the future of the Canada-China trade relationship -- and about the role you and others can play in developing that relationship.

Finding the APEC Door

In some ways, the theme you have chosen for this annual meeting -- Finding the Right Door -- could very aptly be applied to the APEC [Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation] meeting that concluded earlier this week in Vancouver.

Because I believe that when the history of APEC is written, despite the attention on the currency issues and the altercation on the university campus, the Vancouver meeting will be remembered as the moment when APEC came of age. In regard to trade liberalization, it will be remembered as the time when we found the right door.

In 1962, in introducing the Trade Expansion Act, President Kennedy reminded Americans -- and the world -- that "in the life of every nation . . . there comes a time when [it] stands at the crossroads; when it can either shrink from the future and retire into its shell, or move ahead, asserting its will and its faith in an uncertain sea."

Over the past few weeks, Asia has faced an uncertain sea. And in those circumstances, it was perhaps understandable that some would suggest seeking refuge in ports of convenience, that we retreat into protectionist harbours to wait out the storm.

But APEC had the wisdom to understand the folly of that counsel. It knew that progress was never made by adhering to the certain and the safe. It understood that today, more than ever, we must have the courage to sail those "uncertain seas."

So rather than retreat, APEC chose to advance. Rather than look inward, we chose to look outward. A significant and balanced package of 15 sectors was agreed to by trade ministers, and endorsed by leaders. In addition, we agreed that nine of these sectors be accelerated so that tariffs would start dropping by January 1999. Several of these were of particular importance to Canada -- fish and fish products, forestry, energy and telecommunications.

We sought more openness in our economies, our trade systems and our societies than we had ever done before. And I am proud to say that we set ourselves on a path from which there will be no turning.

And I can also tell you that the progress we made over the past few days would never have occurred without the help of Minister Wu Yi and her Chinese delegation.

This is hardly surprising. Canada knows that China, on trade, is committed to building bridges and removing walls, to opening doors and opportunities, to participating fully in the benefits of our global economy.

Canada-China

Today, Canada and China share many common goals. We have, for example, worked together to promote APEC's focus on building the basic infrastructure that is so crucial to economic development in that region.

We share common concerns about the environment, and as a former Environment Minister, I am delighted that China will be establishing an APEC Environmental Research Centre in Beijing.

And, of course, China has offered to host APEC in 2001 -- a clear demonstration of its commitment to APEC and its goals.

Canada applauds China's efforts to liberalize its own trade regime and we wish it well in that endeavour. We know that this year alone, China has lowered tariffs on some 4000 items and agreed to abandon agricultural export subsidies.

These efforts have not been easy -- change rarely is -- but they are necessary if China is to play the role it must in the future of the international trading system.

For all of these reasons, and more, Canada stands as a strong supporter of China's accession to the WTO [World Trade Organization]. We want to ensure that China enters the WTO under conditions of mutual benefit -- conditions that maintain the dynamic nature of its economy and maintain the strength of the WTO. I personally look forward to the day that China crosses the threshold and enters the WTO.

All of us will benefit from China's eventual membership in the WTO. It will bring our commercial ties under WTO disciplines. It will promote transparency, create predictability and provide objective resolution of trade disputes. It will improve Canada's ability to compete in China. And within China itself, it will help to further promote the rule of law.

Future Trade Relationship

Now, I do not need to remind this association of the historic ties between our two countries. History has made us friends and commerce has made us partners. In fact, China now stands as Canada's third-largest trading partner.

But strong as our economic ties may be, we know that we are still only scratching the surface -- that a vast potential remains unrealized.

Our task is to turn those opportunities into reality. Let me touch on four ways that I think we can do that.

First, we have to strengthen the role of trade and business associations. Organizations such as yours have already done a great deal to increase trade between China and Canada from just over $161 million in 1970 to over $10 billion today.

The expertise you bring, the experience you have, will be invaluable as we go forward. Your members are on the ground. They know the players, they know the culture, they know the language. They know how to find -- and open -- the right doors.

By joining together as partners, we can achieve far more than we ever could alone.

So I invite you to tell me how the government and the private sector can work together to cultivate trade ties. This is not a rhetorical invitation. When I became Trade Minister, I made it a departmental priority to energize the role played by Canadian associations, councils and chambers on the trade front. How we can make these organizations more helpful to Canadian businesses pursuing foreign markets. And how we can make them work more effectively with our ambassadors and Trade Commissioners, particularly in markets as distinctive as China.

Trade and business associations also help to establish the crucial personal connections that are so necessary for doing business in Asia. Fax to fax will never replace face to face, and by developing partnerships and personal relationships, these associations perform an invaluable service.

Second, we need to make greater use of our Trade Commissioners. I always think of these Commissioners as being akin to advance scouts, who know the terrain and can help to guide our companies onto the right paths.

Canada currently has 13 Trade Commissioners in three missions in China, and I am committed to placing more Trade Commissioners in the field. At present, we have 50 percent of our Trade Commissioners working in Canada and 50 percent outside Canada. I have recently announced that we will be moving 70 percent of Trade Commissioners around the globe where they are needed the most.

The number of Canadian missions in China will also increase. We will be opening a consulate in Chongqing next year to assist Canadian companies in Chongqing and Sichuan Province -- a combined market of 120 million people. We will also be upgrading our trade office in Guangzhou to a consulate general later this year.

And we were delighted that President Jiang announced earlier this week that China intends to open a consulate in Calgary. Expanding this two-way highway and expanding the resource of our Trade Commissioners corps will help us fully realize our potential in China.

Third, we need to target and be focussed on the right doors. Accordingly, I am releasing today our China and Hong Kong Trade Action Plan for 1998. This plan is another important step in Team Canada's forward-looking approach to strengthening our economic partnership with China.

It identifies priority sectors and emerging markets that play to the strengths of Canadian exporters. The plan also underscores our commitment to working with small and medium-sized businesses that are ready to export, and to help reach our goal of doubling the number of active exporters by the year 2000. We will also continue to seek better access for our companies and to work toward a foreign investment protection agreement.

This Action Plan opens the door -- the right door -- to the great potential of markets like the Yangtze Delta, a region that is experiencing a phenomenal rate of growth.

More than 193 million people live within a 500-kilometre radius of Shanghai -- about the same distance as between Montreal and Toronto. And Mel Lastman thinks he's got his hands full with the mega-city!

But the opportunities are simply amazing. A study done for the World Bank indicates that this region will be making substantial investments in infrastructure over the next few years:

nearly $12 billion for 170 water treatment plants;

more than $5 billion for 166 wastewater treatment facilities;

and then there are the 27 000 kilometres of roads to be built and the 3200 kilometres of rail lines to be constructed or upgraded.

The really exciting part is that Canada is a world leader in many of the areas of greatest need in the Yangzte Delta and throughout China. We are leaders in environmental technologies, in transportation infrastructure, in power generation, in information technologies and in communication.

And so, as my friend Senator Jack Austin would say, "inescapable opportunities" await us in China. But we need to be strategic and focussed in our approach.

Finally, the greatest asset we have in developing our trade relationship is our people. Our country's Chinese-Canadian population stands today at over one million. So when China looks to Canada, it can see reflections of its own culture.

Most countries simply don't have this head start. As Trade Minister, I can't tell you the competitive advantage that this represents. We have people who know China, understand the way business is done there, and appreciate the opportunities that exist within its markets. The family ties, cultural understanding and business acumen of our Chinese-Canadian communities do and must constitute one of the "right doors" you are talking about this week. We are working to broaden our people-to-people exchanges, and the creation of a Canada-China Parliamentary Association would be a concrete step to this end. Through this exporting and importing of values, we are building upon an open relationship that strengthens our commercial partnership.

So while our multinational asset is one we often overlook, it is not one we should ever underrate.

Conclusion

Closer co-operation with our trade and business associations, better use of Trade Commissioners, a dynamic Action Plan that targets our markets in China, and a clearer appreciation for and application of our multicultural society -- these are some of the ways that can help Canada open the right doors to build stronger commercial ties with China.

As well, in order to build upon the momentum of our bilateral relationship and Canada's Year of Asia Pacific, I will be travelling to China with a business delegation in the spring of 1998. And I look forward to working with the Canada-China Business Council on this visit.

As I close, I am reminded of something I read recently about the bamboo plant. Our Chinese friends probably know more about bamboo than Canadians do. But the article said that when you plant bamboo, you don't see anything for several years. During that time, it is putting down a large, complex root system.

Finally, after about four years of sprouting nothing but a tiny shoot, the bamboo plant can grow by as much as 15 metres in a single year.

In many ways, I think Canada's trading relationship with China is like the bamboo plant. Those of you who have planted and cultivated this relationship over the years have already seen the first signs of its immense potential.

So let us be encouraged and take as our guide the Chinese notion of "guanxi" -- the belief that the roots of a strong relationship take time and personal commitment. If we are patient and continue to nurture this relationship, I believe that it will grow stronger and more robust than we can imagine. So let us go forward, knowing that united there is little we cannot do and that great as our past progress has been, our greatest achievements are still to come.

Thank you.

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