China & Canada ink S&T cooperation pact

Canada and China have signed a Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement that includes a joint fund to support scientific and technological innovation and industrial cooperation. The agreement was signed January 16 as part of a high-level delegation to China led by Finance minister James Flaherty and International Trade minister David Emerson.

Canada will contribute $5.5 million to the joint fund, established to implement the agreement in the four areas identified for increased cooperation: energy, the environment, health and life sciences and agricultural food and bioproducts.

The agreement was signed by Emerson and Xu Guanhua, China's minister of Science and Technology. Guanhua said increasing international scientific and technological cooperation is a key component of China's 11th Five-Year Plan, which runs from 2006 to 2010.

MPs from the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology were part of the Canadian delegation. They were collecting information as part of the Committee's current mandate to study Canada's manufacturing sector.

The objectives of the high-level visit were to encourage further discussion on shared financial and economic interests, support the expansion of bilateral trade and investment with an emphasis on the financial services sector, and encourage access and participation of Canadian financial institutions in China's financial services market.

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