Canada PM Harper to visit in February

Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper has accepted an invitation to visit China in the second week of February, his office said.
While in China, Harper will meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.
“Our government is committed to moving our relationship with China forward by focusing on deepening economic ties, including opening new markets, and setting the foundation for long-term growth,” Harper said in a statement on Wednesday.
The exact travel dates are still to be announced.
The visit will build on Harper’s trip to China in December 2009, when China announced that it would list Canada as an approved tourist destination for Chinese citizens, and Hu’s June 2010 visit to Canada when the two leaders agreed to closer bilateral cooperation.
China is Canada’s second-largest merchandise trading partner. Bilateral merchandise trade reached Can$57.7 billion in 2010, while overall trade between the two countries more than tripled between 2001 and 2010.
“Prime Minister Harper’s upcoming visit to China will further enhance and expand our relationship with China and will lay the foundation for more extensive cooperation,” Harper’s office said.
Oil sales are sure to top the agenda.
Virtually all of Canada’s energy exports go to the United States. But after Washington last year delayed approval of a pipeline to carry oil from the Alberta tar sands to the US Gulf Coast, Ottawa’s focus shifted to China as a new customer for Canadian oil.
Hearings started this week in westernmost Canada to consider an alternate crude oil pipeline from Alberta to the Pacific Coast for eventual shipping to Asia.