Flaherty Makes Investment Pitch in China

(CBC News)

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is in China pitching Canada’s banking system to investment officials in one of the world’s most important economies. “The potential here is enormous,” he told CBC News from Beijing, where he is leading a group of officials from Canada’s largest banking and insurance firms on Canada’s largest trade mission to China in years.

Flaherty said he hopes his visit will spur Chinese investment in Canada’s resource and financial service sectors. “We have a strong economic relationship with China,” he said. “But we need to make it grow.”

Flaherty’s second trip to China as finance minister is meant to court the country’s coveted market as exports slow to the United States, Canada’s largest trading partner. There are hopes that China’s booming economy can mitigate a U.S. economy that has been battered by a crumbling housing market and battered consumer spending.

“I think, over time, we will see more investment by Chinese businesses in Canada,” Flaherty said. “I think, over time, we’ll also see growth by our financial institutions in this market, which is just a terrific prospective market for our banks and insurance companies based in Canada that operate globally.” Read more here.