In the first China International Import Expo, there were more than 30 companies from Alberta, Canada, three of them were food and agriculture companies, and more than 20 were clean energy companies and technology companies.“The theme of the Canadian Pavilion is clean energy. We have organized related companies to cooperate with the theme.” Zou Zhuangyan, senior business official of the Alberta, Canada office in Shanghai, said that because of the popularity of the first China International Import Expo, more than 20 clean energy companies and technology companies did not get booths, and only three food and agriculture companies were able to enter the Canadian Hall in the first China International Import Expo.
A large amount of beef, petroleum and wood
The three food and agriculture companies，respectively are beef suppliers, baby milk powder suppliers, and honey suppliers."Beef is the most competitive product in Alberta, honey is another one. More than 99% of Canadian beef in the Chinese market comes from Alberta." Zou Zhuangyan pointed out that Canadian agricultural products are very popular in China, but the total amount of Canada agricultural products in China is not as much as other countries. For example, it is lower than the share of Australian agricultural products in China.“Because China and Australia have signed a free trade agreement, there is no signing between China and Canada.”
Zou Zhuangyan believed that Canadian companies were very keen to establish closer trade relations with Chinese companies via the first China International Import Expo."Canada has the federal system, and each province has a high degree of independence and can be exported independently." According to her, Alberta's largest export market is the United States, because Alberta and the United States has a common boundary, and the trade is very convenient; Alberta’s second largest export market is China.“We have a large volume of trade with China, and Alberta companies have established close contacts with Chinese companies.”
The first rank of the Alberta’s exports to China are food and agricultural products, and then crude oil. Many people may not know that Alberta's oil reserves were in the third place of the world.“Oil has direct exported to (China) and also has transit trade.” Zou Zhuangyan explained that due to objective conditions, the export of Alberta’s oil to China was mainly in transit trade.
Wood is also the main product for Alberta's export to China."The wood is different in the east and west of Canada. In the western Canada, most of the wood is the cork wood. It was exported to China after the preliminary processing." Zou Zhuangyan said that many Chinese timber companies were used to transport the wood to China after the wood was processed.
Attend the Expo as overseas visitors
The Canadian Pavilion of the first China International Import Expo was themed on clean energy and Alberta also cooperated with this theme, specifically organized related companies. But unfortunately, these clean energy companies of Alberta have not received the qualifications for the expo.“The competition is too fierce,” Zou Zhuangyan said that more than 2,800 companies around the world applied to participate in the first China International Import Expo, and the companies in Alberta failed to“win”.
There are 10 states in Canada, which all can apply to participate in the first China International Import Expo. Alberta is not Canada's largest province, and the number of exhibitors is not the largest in Canada's 10 provinces. However, Zou Zhuangyan is not unhappy."There is only 4.3 million people in Alberta. Compared with the population of Canadian states, our exhibitors are not quite a little.”
What about those companies in Alberta didn't get the qualifications to the Expo? Did they stop outside of the expo hall? Alberta companies have tried several ways to get into the Expo. Then they came up with a way to register the identity of overseas visitors online to come to Shanghai. During the Expo, these companies in Alberta who failed to qualify for the expo entered the expo hall every day, and negotiated with Chinese companies to find business partners.
Alberta office is also busy with helping these companies. The office organized companies to rent venues of the hotels next to the expo hall, invite target customers, and present specialties from Alberta face to face.“The Bank of China also arranged a matchmaking meeting.” Zou Zhuangyan also praised the Shanghai Foreign Investment Promotion Board, which cooperated with the Expo, launched investment promotion activities for foreign companies, arranged special visiting routes including Zhangjiang Innopark, and manufacturing industry in Putuo District. These were attractive to Alberta. The companies from both sides will continue to communicate and further exchange details.
