Insurance is among the fields poised to reap the benefit of a lucrative new market if a deal is struck that allows Canada to meet the needs of China’s immense and burgeoning middle class.
That is the message from Canada’s foremost experts on China to the federal government, which is engaged in a major review of its policy towards China.
Other areas likely to benefit from such a deal would be agrifoods, tourism, education, and health care, according to Paul Evans, UBC prof and author of Engaging China and University of Toronto economist Wendy Dobson in a volume of essays published recently on the subject of Canadian trade with China.
The book, Moving Forward: 45 Years of Canada-China Relations, presents a series of options, chief among which is a Canada-China free-trade agreement. Australia already has such an agreement in place with China and seven other Asian countries. Canada however has only one, with South Korea.
In his letter to Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said only that her mandate was to expand trade “with large, fast-growing markets, including China and India.”
