The Government of Canada is committed to enhancing our economic ties with China. To highlight the success of our trade relationship, Prime Minister Stephen Harper visited the Cuntan Port in Chongqing, China, on February 11, 2012, where he witnessed the arrival of the first container shipment of pork from Canada to this region.
It is expected that this first container shipment will open the door to even greater growth of Canada’s exports to this burgeoning market. Canada’s Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor offers access to world-class logistics and distribution facilities, secure, efficient and reliable routes for import and export of goods. To date, strategic infrastructure projects worth nearly $3.5 billion dollars have helped increase the efficiency of the network.
Previously, container cargo from the prairies to Chongqing would have had to clear customs and possibly been repackaged in transit cities, adding both cost and delays. However, in 2011, Manitoba’s CentrePort Canada, CN Rail and CP Rail, along with Mingsheng Shipping and Invent Logistics, signed an agreement to facilitate containerized shipments of agricultural products to Chongqing via the Yangtze River. This followed an agreement between CentrePort and Cuntan Port in 2010, to work cooperatively in key priority areas such as exchanging information and technologies.
The Cuntan Bonded Port Zone is located in Chongqing. The port is at the centre of the economic belt of the upper Yangtze, and connects China’s western and eastern coasts, as well as its northern and southern regions. It is China’s first inland bonded port area and provides access to multi-modal transportation options, including air, rail, road and marine.
CentrePort Canada is a 20,000-acre inland port and trade area surrounding J.A. Richardson International Airport in Winnipeg that connects air, road and transcontinental rail transportation.
In 2010, China was Canada’s third-largest export market for agricultural and seafood goods, importing large quantities of canola seeds, soybeans and green peas.
Total Canadian exports to China in 2010 were valued at $13.2 billion.
