A leading Chinese manufacturer is planning to open an Ontario factory assembling as many as 900 electric vehicles in the next five years, Premier Kathleen Wynne says.

The move by BYD Company Ltd., which has a Canadian office in Windsor, would mean 20 to 30 jobs initially and position the province “at the front of the curve” in a growing field, Wynne told the Star from Shenzhen, China.

“It’s a very good connection to make,” said Wynne, who toured BYD’s operations on Friday as she wrapped up the mainland China portion of an Asian trade mission before moving on to Hong Kong and Vietnam.

“They are very much cutting edge and it looks like it could be a very big deal . . . . We’re really excited about working with them.”

The company confirmed the plans to build and finish vehicles — it specializes in delivery trucks, buses and taxis — in Ontario, where a plant location is yet to be announced.

“BYD is working on many significant orders that will bring final assembly to the province,” said a statement from the company, which is partnering with grocer Loblaws to electrify its fleet and working with public transit agencies.

The Toronto Transit Commission voted last month to buy 30 new electric buses from three main manufacturers for trial runs on routes in the city starting in 2019 as a precursor to larger orders.

“We look forward to working with the Ontario government to provide environmentally friendly transportation and energy storage options for its residents,” said BYD Canada vice-president Ted Dowling.

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Now we have Trudeau jetting off to China as well....perhaps peddling our chromite in addition to our green metals from the ROF?

https://www.pressreader.com/canada/toronto-star/20171202/281573766020588

PM faces classic conundrum on China trip

Profit versus human rights at stake during Trudeau’s official visit in Beijing

• Toronto Star
• 2 Dec 2017
• ALEX BALLINGALL OTTAWA BUREAU

ADRIAN WYLD/THE CANADIAN PRESS Justin Trudeau embarks on his second official visit to China today, when he will meet with President Xi Jinping.

OTTAWA— There is a conundrum at the heart of Canada’s relationship with China, and it goes like this: The opportunities of engagement are too tantalizing to pass up, but the reality of its authoritarian regime is too cold to ignore.

Since the early years of the loosening state-controlled Chinese economy, when Jean Chrétien embarked on his “Team Canada” missions there in the 1990s, the dynamic for Ottawa has been a sort of seesaw between the pursuit of profit and the protection of human rights.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has also sought to strike that balance, claiming this week that Canada can pursue trade opportunities without sacrificing the ability to have “frank” talks with China about “good governance, human rights and the rule of law.”

Now, as Trudeau embarks on his second official visit to China today, expectations are high that the son of the prime minister who became one of the first western leaders to recognize Beijing’s Communist government will become one of the first — after Australia and New Zealand — to push for a free-trade agreement with the Asian economic powerhouse.

The move would signal the pursuit of unprecedented links between Canada and China on trade, the battle against climate change and international co-operation, at a time when nuclear sabre-rattling on the Korean Peninsula has put the world on edge.

“An ordinary visit at extraordinary times,” said Paul Evans, a professor at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia.

But it is the prospect of trade talks that has garnered attention in the days before Trudeau’s trip. The prime minister announced “exploratory talks” on free trade after his first official visit to China for a G20 summit last year. Ottawa also an- nounced its push to double bilateral trade between the countries by 2025.

Yet human rights groups are still urging the government to slow down.

Many have pointed to the apparent consolidation of power under Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose al- most five years in power have been marked by an aggressive crackdown on alleged corruption. Human rights groups warn that lawyers defending activists in the country have been harshly curtailed, freedom of expression is limited and opponents of the state are jailed.

“We know that engaging with China to be able to set the rules and ensure opportunities for Canadian workers and Canadian businesses to succeed in a globalized world is just the right thing to do,” Trudeau told the House of Commons this week.

“We will do it while standing up for Canadian values and human rights.”

To be sure, the opportunities appear to be huge. China is already the world’s second-largest economy, with a gross domestic product in 2016 of $14.9 trillion. And even though the once eye-popping clip of its expansion has slowed in recent years, China’s GDP growth rate still averaged about 7 per cent from 2012 to 2016.

What’s more, China’s economy is hungry for what Canada has to offer, including food products for its middle class and raw materials for its concerted infrastructure buildup and urbanization push, said Sarah Kutulakos, executive director of the Canada China Business Council. Last year, the council published a report that concluded the Canadian economy would grow by $7.8 billion and add 25,000 jobs within 15 years of signing a free trade deal with China.

But not all industries feel they stand to gain. United Steelworkers national director Ken Neumann said that there are concerns in some industries, such as steel production, that the massive capacity of Chinese producers could allow that country to flood the Canadian market and kill businesses here.

China, however, seems quite interested in a free trade deal.

The country’s ambassador to Canada, Lu Shaye, told The Canadian Press in July that an agreement would “provide a stable and anticipated institutional arrangement for mutual investment,” and that he hoped talks would begin at an “early date.”

Evans said China has been frustrated with Canada’s investment laws, which allow the government to block foreign purchases if they’re deemed contrary to the national interest. Ambassador Lu has slammed these practices as “tantamount to protectionism,” even as the Trudeau Liberals have indicated a willingness to accept more Chinese investment in Alberta’s oilsands and approved the controversial purchase of Vancouver-based high tech firm Norsat — that had contracts with the U.S. military — to a Chinese company earlier this year

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We eve seem to have Chief Day excited about this....

 

Isadore Day‏ @ChiefDay 17m17 minutes ago