Senior economic and trade officials from China and Canada eyed further economic and trade cooperation between the two countries as they met at an occasion on Thursday.

Chinese Minister of Commerce Chen Deming said "bilateral trade and economic cooperation have made remarkable progress in recent years...and we have every reason to be confident of the future prospects of the Sino-Canadian trade and economic cooperation."

Chen made the remarks at a ceremony for the 30th anniversary of the Canada China Business Council (CCBC), a Canada-based private association built in 1978 to facilitate and promote trade and investment between Canada and China.

Canada's Minister of International Trade David Emerson, who was also present at the ceremony, said "we need more Canadian businesses making a serious commitment to the Chinese market – as a number of CCBC members have done –companies like Bombardier and Bank of Montreal."

"As these companies are showing, the Canada-China partnership is more than the sum of its parts. There are real economic synergies, real opportunities for mutual gain," he said.

The minister reaffirmed wishes for further cooperations with China. "Clearly, the roots of a modern and diverse commercial relationship between our countries are taking hold. Our job is to continue building on this foundation," Emerson added.

Statistics show that China has become Canada's second largest trading partner, behind only the United States. Bilateral trade volume has exceeded 30 billion U.S. dollars last year.
 
(Xinhua News Agency January 11, 2008)