Why Trade Matters
Success Stories
Canadians Follow Trade Winds to China
With a booming industrial sector, particularly since it joined the World Trade
Organization in 2001, China has been named the economy of the 21st century.
Bilateral trade with Canada reached $23.3 billion in 2003. The nation has an
appetite for Canadian resources, knowledge and experience. As well, China's
culture is familiar to many Canadians. China and Hong Kong were Canada’s
number-one source of immigrants in 2002, and Mandarin is currently the third
most widely spoken language in Canada after English and French. Prime Minister
Paul Martin and International Trade Minister Jim Peterson will lead a trade
delegation this month to solidify business relationships and explore new opportunities
between established trading partners. Many Canadian entrepreneurs have already
taken the journey east and established business ties with China. This issue
of Success Stories will focus on six examples of Canadian businesses
that are finding success in the Orient.
Award-Winning Designs in China
ABCP Architecture and Urbanism,
Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec
The largest school in Northeast China is on the verge of completion. It was
designed by ABCP Architecture and Urbanism. The Shenyang Beida Jade Bird School
is a 110,000 square-metre full-time boarding school that can accommodate 3,000
students at primary, secondary, pre-university and professional training levels
and boasts a state-of-the-art sports facility. “The scope of this project
was huge. This type of construction is very rare in North America,” says
Alain Bergeron, a partner at ABCP, a Quebec firm with several design awards
under its belt in China—including a bronze for the 2008 Olympic Games’
Cultural and Sports Centre.
In 2004, ABCP took second place for its innovative design of the
21-track West Tianjin railway station—a $110 million, 500,000
square-metre project including shopping and service facilities.
“While addressing the highly functional requirements of this
station, we wanted to provide wider social and economic benefits,”
says Bergeron. “Our goal was to combine tradition and modern
values in a unique architectural composition, while integrating
a series of ecological measures and a sense of social pride for
the people of Tianjin.” ABCP also placed third in the international
design competition for the Wukesong Cultural and Sports Centre—a
billion-dollar complex being built for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing,
comprised of basketball courts, baseball and softball fields, a
running track, swimming pools, a cultural centre, a shopping centre
and a 400-room hotel.
Established in 1987, ABCP has offices in Beijing and Shenyang,
China and in Jakarta, Indonesia.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
In Sync with China
Beco Industries,
Montreal, Quebec
Canada’s largest producer and exporter of home textile products,
Beco Industries, has become somewhat of an expert on the dynamics
of working in China, which it uses as a labour supply market for
its fashion bedding and comforters.
According to Beco President Richard Pinchuk, joint ventures with
Chinese manufacturers are the way to go. Continually monitoring
market and cultural changes is essential. Canada’s Trade
Commissioner Service provides that information. “The Chinese
culture not only differs from region to region and between older
and younger generations, but is also changing at a frantic pace,”
says Pinchuk. “That includes shifts in tariffs, quotas, government
regulations and even transport rates. You need to keep abreast of
the laws and make them work for you to improve your bottom line.
Marry the advantages of what can be done in China with what you
can do in Canada.” For Beco, that has meant manufacturing
comforter covers and accessories in China while continuing to produce
the bulky, transport-costly stuffing in Canada.
With approximately half of its sales generated by exports south
of the border, Beco has warehouses in the states of New York and
North Carolina. The company also has an office in China as well
as sourcing relationships with quality-assured mills in Bangladesh,
India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Spain and Turkey.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
Mapping China’s Development Trends
Chreod Ltd.,
Ottawa, Ontario
Chreod Ltd. was set up for one purpose: to provide market research,
urban development and capital investment planning services in China.
Since landing its first contract in 1988 to design and implement
an urban management training program in Shanghai, the Ottawa-based
firm has conducted 75 projects in more than 70 Chinese cities.
Chreod’s work in China falls under three main categories:
public policy, investment planning and market information. “In
areas where we don’t have the expertise ourselves, we tap
into other resources,” says company President Edward Leman.
For example, creating a joint venture with Shanghai's Development
Research Centre recently helped Chreod win a year-long contract
from the Asian Development Bank to prepare a development strategy
for Hebei Province, which surrounds Beijing and Tianjin. Another
key resource has been Canada’s Trade
Commissioner Service. “The input and assistance from staff
at the embassy and consulates all over China have been spectacular
over the last 16 years,” adds Leman.
China’s geographic, economic and social diversity is being
plotted by Chreod on a countrywide database that supports effective
decision making in this complex market. This exhaustive geographic
information system provides opportunities for in-depth China-wide
analyses that were previously unavailable. Four employees work in
Chreod’s Shanghai office to input new and updated data. This
information is then used by the firm’s economists, financial
analysts, market researchers and planners to prepare market scans
and regional/city market profiles for clients that include foreign
and domestic corporate investors; multi-development banks such as
the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank; and central, municipal
and provincial governments across the country.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
Exporting Canadian Management Expertise to China
University of Alberta,
Edmonton, Alberta
Late last year, a group of 39 senior Chinese government officials
took part in a management training session at the University of
Alberta’s School of Business (UASOB) campus in Edmonton. The
trainees were all vice mayors responsible for agriculture, representing
39 districts of Chongqing, a mega-city with a population of 32 million.
In 2004, Dr. Edy Wong, UASOB’s Assistant Dean International,
made several trips to China in connection with the University’s
various training initiatives—including a $200,000 contract
awarded by the Chinese government to train 45 senior-level Chongqing
decision makers. “This particular program focussed on issues
such as eGovernment, cross-cultural communications and how China’s
Western Development Strategy can benefit from Canada’s experience
in developing the economies of Western Canada,” says Dr. Wong.
“In highlighting Canadian capabilities in these areas, there
is every reason to believe that this project will work to Canada’s
commercial advantage over time.” The Canadian Consulate in
Chongqing has played a critical role in the University’s Chinese
endeavours. “Ongoing assistance from local trade staff, such
as that provided by Peter Liao in organizing meetings, has been
invaluable.” adds Dr. Wong.
Other participants in UASOB’s training programs in Edmonton
last year included a group of vice-mayors and administrators from
the province of Heilongjiang; central government officials from
the China National School of Administration; and executives from
the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Sinopec and PetroChina,
among others.
Cleaner Air for China
Westport Innovations,
Vancouver, British Columbia
Dedicated to meeting the growing demand for clean power worldwide,
Westport Innovations is bringing its environmental solutions to
China. In December 2004, the Vancouver-based company signed an agreement
with Beijing Sinogas Co. Ltd. and Qingdao Sino-Canada S&T Park
Co. Ltd. to work together on establishing a business plan to introduce
gaseous-fuelled vehicles and infrastructure solutions throughout
China.
Westport develops technologies that allow diesel engines to operate
on natural gas, propane and hydrogen. “In the past year, we
have gained a stronger understanding of the Chinese natural gas
marketplace,” says Phil Hodge, Westport’s Vice President
responsible for the company’s China expansion. “Working
with Sinogas and Qingdao Sino-Canada S&T Park will enable Westport
to bring environmental solutions to the Chinese marketplace faster
and more effectively.” Sinogas has constructed more than 60
compressed and liquefied natural gas (CNG/LNG) stations in China,
while Qingdao Sino-Canada is an initiative between Canada’s
National Research Council and China’s Ministry of Science
and Technology that facilitates technology and R&D collaboration
between the two countries.
Cummins Westport Inc.,
the company’s joint venture with Indiana-based Cummins Inc.,
manufactures the world’s widest range of low-emission alternative
fuel engines for commercial transportation applications such as
trucks and buses. Cummins Westport is also supplying CNG-fuelled
engines to low-emission public transit buses in the Philippines
and is looking to expand into other Southeast Asian countries, such
as Thailand and Malaysia.
 |
| Click to
enlarge |
Cracking the Chinese
Motorcycle Market
Eagle Precision Technologies Inc.,
Brantford, Ontario
One of China’s largest motorcycle manufacturers is using
equipment made in Ontario by Eagle Precision Technologies Inc. Following
an international competitive bidding process in 2003, the Brantford-based
company was awarded a US$288,000 contract to supply its tube bending
machines to the Zongshen Motorcycle Group in Chongqing.
Eagle Precision had previously exported its tube forming equipment
to the Chengdu Aircraft Group Corp., the Chongqing Jialing Motorcycle
Industry Group, the Sichuan Ziyang Locomotive Factory and the Guizhou
Hongju Factory. In a number of its Chinese ventures, including its
latest project, the company received a helping hand from the Canadian
Trade Commissioner Service.
“When Zongshen and local tendering authorities approached
the consulate in Chongqing, staff there gave strong support to our
participation in the bidding,” says Douglas Boughner, Chief
Executive Officer of Eagle Precision Technologies.
With a complete line of machines capable of producing almost any
form on the end of a metal tube, Eagle Precision supplies a full
range of equipment necessary for the manufacture of automotive exhaust
systems. Its technologies are also used in other automotive applications
such as tubular frame components and fluid lines, as well as the
aircraft, air conditioning, heavy equipment and furniture industries.
The company has customers in over 55 countries and parts and service
facilities in Indianapolis and Shanghai.
Back to "Why Trade Matters"
|
