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2014-February-17

Celebration of Strong People-to-People Ties Between Canada and China

And we have an equally active program of cultural exchange in store for 2014. For example, in February, there will be an exhibition of Canadian artist Jocelyne Alloucherie’s works and a Canadian photo exhibition on the theme of climates in Beijing. In March, we will be promoting French Canadian culture through a series of activities including concerts and film screenings in cities throughout China. In the fall, we will have tours across China by Canada’s Montreal Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Canada will participate again in the annual Beijing International Film Festival as well as the annual Banff Mountain Film Festival China Tour. In addition to these major activities, we will also continue to feature the works of inspiring Canadian artists and performers. I recommend that readers log on to the Embassy of Canada’s weibo at www.weibo.com/canadaweibo for announcements and more details about these activities.

There were also many other notable high points for the Canada-China relationship in 2013. In May, two giant pandas, Da Mao and Er Shun, arrived at the Toronto Zoo from China. They have been delighting zoo visitors since their arrival and are a great symbol of the deepening trust and friendship between Canada and China.

As well, more and more Chinese tourists are visiting Canada. Since Canada was granted approved destination status in 2010, the number of Chinese visitors to Canada has more than doubled. China has also consistently been one of the top source countries for immigration to Canada over the past 10 years. In fact, there are more than 1.4 million Canadians of Chinese ethnic origin and Chinese is the third most spoken language in Canada after English and French.

One area of growth in the Canada-China relationship that I am very proud of is education. It is now a pillar of our bilateral ties and one that I spend a significant amount of my time promoting and supporting. In fact, another outcome of Prime Minister Harper’s 2012 visit to China was an agreement that Canada and China would work towards expanding two-way academic exchanges.

In fact, education was one of the key themes of Canada’s Governor General David Johnston’s state visit to China in October 2013. Today, there are more than 84,000 Chinese studying in Canada, representing about 30 percent of all international students in Canada. And Chinese students accounted for almost half of the global increase in the number of international students between 2007 and 2012.

Canada has one of the world’s best education systems and is home to many globally top-ranked universities. Moreover, studying in Canada has numerous advantages, such as being able to obtain a work permit while studying and to stay on for a period after graduating.

Barely a week goes by when I do not participate in an education-related event or meeting. I meet frequently with visiting Canadian university officials, attend signing ceremonies between Canadian and Chinese academic institutions, and often have the chance to speak with students and alumni of universities from both our countries. As well, every time I return to Canada, I always give presentations at Canadian universities to tell Canadian students about the changes in China and the many opportunities available to them to study and work here.

This past fall was actually the busiest time of my entire career as we had many activities and visits taking place, including the state visit to China by our Governor General and the China tour of our National Orchestra, as earlier mentioned. But on top of that, there were also visits to China by our Foreign Affairs, International Trade, and Natural Resources Ministers, the Premiers of the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, and the Mayor of Ottawa, among others.

As Canada’s Ambassador, it is very gratifying to have all these visits and cultural and educational activities take place, as it reflects the strong and growing relationship between our two countries.

While 2013 was a very active year, I look forward to 2014 being an even more dynamic one. Canada has invited President Xi and Premier Li to visit Canada and I hope they will soon be able to do so.

I wish your readers a very happy Holiday Season and a terrific start to the Year of the Horse!

 

GUY SAINT-JACQUES is the Canadian Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China.

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