Thirty Signed Up to Head to China

Wednesday, April 09, 2008 04:00 AM

Prince George, B.C. – So far, 30 people have signed up to go to Beijing China in June.

Among the 30, are the Mayor of Prince George, the City Manager and a City Councillor. Initiatives Prince George is sending one person, and the balance of attendees is made up of businesses from Prince George and the North.

The deadline for submitting notice of intent to make the trip was supposed to be yesterday, but that deadline is being stretched to noon Friday and that doesn’t leave much time to get all the necessary paperwork and approvals in place “We need time to apply for the Visas and make the reservations for the flights and hotels” says IPG’s Karen Cameron.

The Regional District of Fraser Fort George has approved sending two people, but has not yet registered anyone for the trip.

The delegation will be utilizing the new B.C. Canada Pavilion which is designed to showcase Canada and B.C. as the host province of the 2010 Olympics.

The trip is coming at a time when people around the world are expressing their anger with China over its treatment of Tibet, and the killing of Tibetan protestors. Prime Minister Stephen Harper says Canada will not consider boycotting the games. Some heads of State have indicated they will not attend the opening ceremonies, but their athletes will compete.

Has the issue been raised by any who plan to take part in this business trip? “No one has mentioned it” says Karen Cameron “and it hasn’t affected the number of people attending.”

NDP MLA Bob Simpson says B.C. is in a tough position “I think no matter what government was in power in B.C. this would be a very awkward situation. B.C. is an Olympic host community and is under the watchful eye of the IOC (International Olympic Committee)”

The trip is designed to further relationships already established, and to attract more trade.

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Posted on Wednesday, April 09, 2008 04:00 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: whitewater on April 9 2008 5:54 AM

Everything you can buy here is made in China already....is everything in China made in Canada?.....I think they want oil and coal, maybe a piece of wood if someone could cut it into metric dimensions for them....

Posted by: jonnypg on April 9 2008 6:59 AM

Yes whitewater, you are correct all want is our resources.

Posted by: lostfaith on April 9 2008 10:03 AM

Just what we need is more trade with china.
Toxic toys are great. What else do we get from there that is killing us off?
The only thing China is interested in is taking our technology and improving it and using it for themselves.
Thats what they do.

Posted by: realitycheck on April 9 2008 10:36 AM

I think if 25 private business people are willing to buck up their own coin to go then there must be some value in it. I don't think they're about to waste cash unless they think it may pay off.
Not sure I'd go given the Tibet situation but I'm not in need of any business from China either.

Good luck to all going!

Posted by: giterdun on April 9 2008 10:37 AM

Quote from old labor leader Jack Munro over 20 years ago..."Exporting wood to China is like giving them rope. They will return some day and hang us with it." HOW TRUE.

Posted by: owl on April 9 2008 11:18 AM

So let me ask, how much of our natural resources are we exporting to the USA?

The oil sands have put us into the No 1 supplier of oil to the USA and the primary reason why we have a trade surplus. Then there is lumber. Then there are our people. We provide more tourist dollars to them than they do to us.

We are a resource based country and province. That is what people want from us. So why should China be any different than the USA?

We have a product which the world requires. To date we have been selling primarily to one client. Time to not only diversify our product in this province, but also our clients.

Maybe we can set up a CCFTA .... then when they don;t like it, they can pretend they are the USA and not honour it.

One needs to be shrewd to trade. Shrewdness is not a characteristic Canadians are noted for.

Posted by: owl on April 9 2008 11:33 AM

"The only thing China is interested in is taking our technology and improving it and using it for themselves."

China is not an exception.

Just look at what happened to a solar cell manufacturing technique which was developed in Waterloo Ontario with millions of Canadian research dollars. The manufacturing plant was put into Germany with German investment guarantees to draw the plant there. 150+ jobs in a clean high tech industry and well paying part of the world.

http://www.sqwalk.com/blog2008/001261.html

Maybe someone can put two and two together.

1. cheap land

2. a stone's throw away from an international capable 10,000 ft landing strip

3. on a backhaul route to a new seaport

4. desire to support clean industry

5. desire to diversify from natural resource industry

6. home of a large new windfarm

7. affordable housing

8. a highly respected research university

9. outdoor lifestyle

10. increased interest in developing lifestyle infrastructure

And then go see if this or another manufacturing process developer is interested in a first plant in Canada.

Posted by: realitysetsin on April 9 2008 11:34 AM

China having the Olympics did not cause them to violate human rights.

China having the Olympics only put increased spotlight on it.

So long as we have an appetite for cheap crap from China they will continue making it.

Is buying cheap crap from China an endorsement of their Human Rights Abuses?

Probably not.

But by not buying cheap crap from China it would surely would get their attention, and induce change.

I am not convinced that we can't make quality things in Canada that can compete. We have quality labor, good technology and cheaper transportation costs to our own markets.

Posted by: onemansthoughts on April 9 2008 12:00 PM

Not to worry, our mayor will stimulate our economy, China will do a lot of businesse with us anyways, but hey, we can always say good job mayor.

Posted by: Harbinger on April 9 2008 12:05 PM

If I want to experience a Chinese manufacturing atmosphere, I can always head off to Wally Mart.

Posted by: diplomat on April 9 2008 2:36 PM

Owl, those 10 excellent Prince George assets you listed would look most appealing to almost any country in the world that has technology and the money top go with it!

Trouble is we are still too far off the beaten track, but the new cargo plane runway and cargo handling facilities at the airport will most certainly change that!

Posted by: slick on April 9 2008 3:41 PM

STAY THERE!

Posted by: tinyapplecork on April 9 2008 4:56 PM

Are you guys living under a rock? 40% of our market is dependant on trade with the US and I think another 20-25% is dependant on China with the remainder going to Europe and the rest of the globe. If you think we can do with out trade to China you are sadly mistaken. With the recession in the US it is more important than ever to strengthen ties with Asia and Europe not sever them.

The Olympics is not a political forum anyhow. It is a sports competition designed to unite and bring harmony to the world's athletes. However, as realitysetin pointed out, the Olympics is an opportunity to elevate BC's persona on the world stage in advance of our hosting the 2010 games.

Posted by: diplomat on April 9 2008 5:21 PM

"STAY THERE" ...yes, please stay there! We don't want any clean high-tech well paying manufacturing jobs here! That is a very slick attitude - we just collect EI and social assistance and as long as they are available!

After that - who cares?

Posted by: BCRacer on April 9 2008 5:38 PM

This gives a whole new meaning to
going out for chinese....

Posted by: Harbinger on April 9 2008 6:54 PM

We need the Chinese, they need us. Think about it. It ain't all superficial.

Posted by: slick on April 10 2008 3:23 PM

The Chinese are definitely going to set up manufacturing here for our cheap labour and low regard to safety. More interesting is the fact that they are buying up billions of dollars worth of company's both here and the US where people will be paid less and safety standards will be of less regard. haha

Posted by: slick on April 10 2008 3:24 PM

after all they are well know for their high quality products and good food exports.