Canada pitches bank expansion in China, seeking to grow exports

Canada pitched expanding its financial services presence in the Chinese market as the northern nation aims to increase exports to its second-largest trading partner in a push to diversify from the U.S. The five-day trip to China was staffed by a cast that included Prime Minister Mark Carney’s finance minister, the governor of the Bank of Canada, the chief of the Canadian banking regulator and the heads of several Canadian financial services firms. Expanding Canadian financial services activity in China is key to achieving the government’s goal of increasing exports by 50% by 2030, according to Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne. “If you want to expand your trade, you need financial services,” Champagne said on a call with reporters Friday morning. “You need to be able to provide that kind of services to the exporters that want to do more in the Chinese market.” Canadian insurance companies have operated in China for decades, and some are looking to expand their licenses to offer more services, Champagne said. For Manulife Financial Corp., Canada’s largest insurer, the Asian market has been its largest revenue segment in seven of its last eight fiscal years. The Canadian delegation met with Chinese Finance Minister Lan Fo’an, as well as People’s Bank of China Governor Pan Gongsheng and Vice Premier He Lifeng. Champagne also met with executives from the China National Offshore Oil Corporation and the Agricultural Bank of China. The mission followed Carney’s January meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, which saw tariff reductions on Chinese automobiles and Canadian canola seed. Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that Stellantis NV is in talks to build electric vehicles in Canada with its Chinese partner Zhejiang Leapmotor Technology Co. Champagne said he raised the topic of tariffed Canadian pork in his meetings. Champagne last month ordered an investigation into low-priced imports of frozen and canned vegetables, much of which originates in China. Through this past week’s mission and Carney’s earlier visit, “the framework that has been established is basically like a clearinghouse for issues that arise in the trading relationship,” Champagne said. “Our trading relationship is around C$120 billion — if you look at the size of the Canadian economy and the size of the Chinese economy, it should be much higher than that.” By Curtis Heinzl

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Canada pitches bank expansion in China, seeking to grow exports