Canadian International Trade Minister Jim Peterson will lead a trade mission to China to explore business opportunities, an official press release said Thursday.

The trade mission from Jan. 18 to 25 will help Canadian business further explore the immense commercial opportunities in Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong, the press release said.

"Canada recognizes the tremendous economic growth taking place in China, and is taking steps to ensure that Canadian companies fully participate in the opportunities that Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong have to offer," said Peterson.

"In addition to this trade mission, we are also negotiating a Foreign Investment Protection Agreement, as China is one of the main targets of our emerging market strategy," he said.

In each of these three Chinese cities, the mission program will consist of seminars, conferences and networking opportunities designed to introduce export-ready participants to the market and to help Canadian companies already active in the region expand and strengthen their commercial ties, the press release said.

After achieving impressive economic growth over the last decade, averaging almost 8.5 percent annually, China has become the world's seventh-largest economy in terms of gross domestic product. Canada's bilateral merchandise trade with China, which reached a record 23.3 billion Canadian dollars (about US$20 billion) in 2003, has increased by some 31 percent since the beginning of the year. This makes China the second-largest trading partner of Canada after the United States.

Since becoming a member of the World Trade Organization in December 2001, China has opened its markets and undertaken economic reforms. Its increasingly powerful industrial infrastructure is driving greater integration with the economies of East and Southeast Asia.

All of these developments make it a very attractive market for Canadian companies, especially in the financial services, education, natural resources, transportation, agri-food, biotechnology, information and communications technology, aerospace and tourism sectors, the press release said.

(Xinhua News Agency December 3, 2004)