Doing Business with China…. (Part 1)

China's economy will soon become the largest in the world. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), China's economy will be larger than the combined economies of the Eurozone countries by the end of this year, and will overtake the United States by the end of 2016. To fuel an expanding economy, China has been on a global quest for raw materials for decades. In the energy sector, that includes oil, natural gas and uranium from Canada. Currently, two matters concerning our trade with China are the focus of public attention: the sale of the Calgary-based oil and gas producer Nexen to the Chinese state-owned-enterprise CNOOC (China National Offshore Oil Corporation), and FIPA, the Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement, yet to be ratified by the federal government. What are the issues surrounding the determination of a "net benefit" to Canada? Speaker: Gordon Houlden Gordon Houlden is the Director of the China Institute and a Professor of Political Science at the University of Alberta. Born and educated in Calgary, he joined the Foreign Service in 1976. Twenty-two of his years with the Foreign Service were spent working on Chinese affairs for the Government of Canada. His last assignment, before joining the University of Alberta in 2008, was as Director General of the East Asian Bureau of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.