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Canada’s Asia-Pacific Gateway Facilitates Access to High-Growth Foreign Markets

International Trade Minister Ed Fast witnesses shipment of B.C. wood products arriving in Qingdao, China

October 14, 2011
Qingdao, China

The Honourable Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, visits the port of Qingdao in China’s Shandong province. During the visit he witnessed the arrival of a shipment of B.C. wood products from Canada’s Western Forest Products, Inc. Minister Fast saw first-hand how high-quality Canadian natural resources, including wood and agri-food products, are arriving in China in increasing volumes, thanks, in part, to the ease of movement made possible by Canada’s Asia-Pacific Gateway.

In one year alone (from 2009 to 2010), using Asia-Pacific Gateway infrastructure, Canadian exports to China increased by almost 19 percent, reaching $13.2 billion. 

Qingdao port facilitated almost $300 million in trade with Canada in 2010.

From left to right: Amy Guo from Western Forest Products, Inc; Chungsen Leung, Parliamentary Secretary for Multiculturalism; Minister Ed Fast; Chunfa Fan, General Manager, Qingdao Jiade Wood Co., Ltd.;  Jacqueline Wang, Purchasing Director, Qingdao Jiade Wood Co.; and Gerald Keddy, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade, for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and for the Atlantic Gateway.

Please consult the news release and Minister Fast's photo gallery.

For further information, media representatives may contact:

Rudy Husny
Press Secretary
Office of the Honourable Ed Fast
Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway
613-992-7332

Trade Media Relations Office
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
613-996-2000
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