The Canada China Business Council (CCBC) celebrated its 30th anniversary on January 9 and 10, 2008, with a luncheon and gala in Shanghai and Beijing respectively.

The luncheon followed an inaugural meeting for a new trade and investment co-operative, the Shanghai-CCBC Investment and Trade Forum.

Initiated at a meeting in June 2007 between the CCBC President Sergio Marchi and Shanghai's Vice Mayor Tang Dengjie, the Forum provides Canadian businesses with an unprecedented platform on which they can meet face-to-face with Shanghai officials to discuss relevant challenges and explore opportunities to enhance trade in Shanghai.

CCBC Executive Director Sarah Kutulakos said, "The Forum is an exemplary tool for Canadian businesses to identify business opportunities and directly showcase Canadian expertise and experience at the most senior and productive levels in Shanghai. This initiative will serve as a model for similar undertakings elsewhere in China for CCBC."

The Beijing gala's highlights were major trade addresses by Canada's International Trade Minister David Emerson and China's new Minister of Commerce Chen Deming. Some 450 Canadian and Chinese government and business luminaries -- including Jean Chretien, former Canadian Prime Minister -- attended the dinner.

"In 2006, China became Canada's fourth-largest export market and our second-largest trading partner, behind only the United States," said Emerson. "And 2007 was another banner year. Canadian exports to China registered a record performance, and Chinese exports to Canada grew at a double-digit pace.

"Clearly, the roots of a modern and diverse commercial relationship between our countries are taking hold."

According to Marchi, former Canadian Minister of International Trade and Canadian Ambassador to the World Trade Organization, the presence of the two nation's international trade ministers reiterates the importance of CCBC in strengthening trade and investment between Canada and China.

"For three decades the Canada China Business Council has been at the forefront of building trade and investment between Canada and China," he stated. "Governments in China and Canada recognize, by their presence at events such as the gala, that CCBC is a contributor to Canadian prosperity and a unified voice for Canadian businesses active in the world's fourth-largest --and fastest growing -- economy, China."

The gala followed two full days of trade and investment policy forums, roundtables and seminars in Shanghai and Beijing.

Leading CCBC members from both cities and Canada joined other prominent Canadian and Chinese businesspeople in examining issues as diverse as product quality and safety in China, developing sustainable trade opportunities in fast-emerging western China, and the evolution of corporate social responsibility among China's leading companies.

About CCBC

Founded in 1978, the Canada China Business Council is a private, membership-based association that seeks to facilitate trade and investment between Canada and China.

CCBC currently owns over 300 member companies, which range from financial services, legal services, education, information and communications technology, to manufacturing, construction, transportation, mining and energy.

In addition to its head office in Toronto and an office in Vancouver, the CCBC has offices and staff in six of China's leading economic centers, including Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Shenyang, Chengdu and Shenzhen.