China and Canada: It’s All Business

Canada, perhaps the most hospitable environment among the world’s major oil exporters, is in terrific position to benefit from China’s resource needs. His reign remarkable for its relative placidity during a time of turmoil for most of his peers, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has managed to turn around what was a tense relationship for Ottawa and Beijing at the outset of his tenure as the head of Canada’s minority Conservative government. The flowering Sino-Canadian friendship must now be considered among his top achievements.

Although there are legitimate human rights concerns that Mr. Harper continues to pursue with his counterpart President Hu Jintao, he has placed the long-term economic interests of his country at the center of his China policy. The oil sands, for example, represent the second-largest store of recoverable oil on the planet, trailing only Saudi Arabia’s vast reservoirs. The US, still Canada’s largest market for oil and everything else, has on several occasions advanced legislation that would restrict the inflow of oil-sands-derived crude on environmental concerns.

For Canada to maintain its newfound strength among developed economies it must continue to foster ties to emerging markets. Its best connection to the world beyond North America is on a bridge built by resource-focused capital investment.

Describing the relationship of his company with the Chinese government during the Globe & Mail interview Mr. Li noted that CNOOC receives “no political direction or order. We are businessmen. We are not politicians. China is focused on economic development. We really don’t have any interest in politics.”

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