Chretien leaves with $3.46bn in deals

Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien met Chinese President Jiang Zemin in his nine-day visit to China

By Patricia Lai
CNN.com Writer

HONG KONG, China -- Canadian firms have won $3.46 billion in new business from China following a mission there by Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien.

The mission -- a 580-strong delegation of business leaders, politicians and diplomats dubbed Team Canada -- wrapped up its visit to Greater China at the weekend, having secured 266 new contracts.

Among the largest were the accord by Bombardier Aerospace to sell Shandong Airlines Rainbow Jet with jets worth $152 million, and a $150 million contract signed by Nortel Networks to install telecoms infrastructure.

Robert Mackenzie, Minister (Commercial) of Canadian Embassy in Beijing said the deals concerning airplanes, telecommunications, railway construction, and wheat supply were most significant as "they mean extremely long term relationship with China".

Deals "show Canada's competitiveness"

"They also show Canada's competitiveness in key areas such as high-tech, communications, and airplanes," he said.

The Bombardier jets will be used for Shandong Airlines' new global charter business operations, with the first aircraft to be delivered in March 2002.

Nortel's deal will see it deliver and install a 12,000-kilometer optical telecommunications backbone network for China Telecommunications Corp.

Huang Yi-ping Salomon Smith Barney's China Economist says he is not surprised by the success of the mission.

China...making business deals with different countries

"China is always making business deals with different countries. A lot of business deals were made in Prime Minister Chretian's visit but Canada is not the only country China is dealing with," he says.

The delegation was the largest trade team to visit China yet by Team Canada, which was established in 1994 to promote international trade. Every year Team Canada visits one or two countries, the February visit as its second to China. The first one was in 1994.

Robert Mackenzie said the latest visit was "a very successful one". "The number of signings made is unprecedented," he said, adding the time of Team Canada's next trip to China is not set up yet.

SNC-Lavalin signed a letter of intent with Shenyang Rail Transit System to plan, finance, construct and operate a 22-km transit system for Shenyang, a city of six million people in the North of China. The project is valued at $2.03 billion, of which $732 million is Canadian content.

The Canadian Wheat Board signed a memorandum of agreement with the China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Import & Export Corporation to supply China with one half-million tones of wheat. The deal is valued at an estimated $125 million.

In Hong Kong, the third and final stop of Team Canada, 27 new business deals worth over $49 million (CAD $75 million) have been signed.

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Canada Government
Jean Chretien website
Nortel Networks
Bombardier Aerospace
SNC-lavalin International

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