A senior official from Canada's Alberta Province said on Tuesday she hoped more Chinese investment would be made in Alberta, home to rich oil sand reserves.

"In all our meetings, we have been encouraging Chinese investment in Alberta," said Alberta's Minister of Employment, Immigration and Industry Iris Evans at a press conference at the Canadian Embassy in Beijing.

"We have been telling friends that we meet here in China that we have very large energy capacity. We have 173 billion barrels of established reserves ... we believe we can share technology with China," said Evans.

Evans met with officials and senior representatives of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, the National Development and Reform Commission and Sinopec, discussing cooperation between China and Alberta on oil sands and other projects, and the issues of immigration and labor.

According to Evans, China has been investing in Alberta since 2004, led by companies including China's three oil giants, namely Sinopec, the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC).

(Xinhua News Agency October 17, 2007)