Canada's move in China is also trying to break free from dependence on the U.S.

Ask AI · Why is Canada’s finance minister focusing on expanding financial services during his visit to China?

From April 1 to April 4, Canada’s Minister of Finance, Shang Pengfei, visited China. The accompanying delegation included the Governor of the Bank of Canada, the head of the Canadian Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority, and leaders from multiple Canadian financial services companies. According to Bloomberg, Canada has proposed expanding its presence in financial services in the Chinese market in order to expand exports and accelerate its shift away from reliance on the United States.

In a call with reporters on April 3, local time, Shang Pengfei said that the Canadian government’s goal is to increase exports by 50% by 2030, and expanding Canadian financial services activities in China is key to achieving this goal.

“If you want to expand trade, you need financial services,” Shang Pengfei said. “You need to be able to provide these services to exporters who want to do more business in the Chinese market.”

Shang Pengfei noted that Canadian insurance companies have been operating in China for decades, and that some of them are seeking to expand their licenses to provide more services. For Manulife Financial, the largest Canadian insurer, in seven of the last eight fiscal years, the Asian market has been its biggest source of revenue.

Shang Pengfei said, “Our total trade volume is about 120 billion Canadian dollars (about 592.2 billion yuan RMB). If you look at the economic size of Canada and China, this figure should be far higher than that.”

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