Canada may consider relaxing its foreign investment rules, including steps to open up to state-owned enterprises in China, in a bid to attract more capital and spur economic growth, Finance Minister Bill Morneau said.
Morneau spoke to reporters on Sunday in Sudbury, Ontario, at a cabinet meeting ahead of the Group of 20 leaders’ summit in China in early September. He and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will attend along with other senior Canadian officials.
Asked about reviewing restrictions on the ability of state-owned enterprises such as those in China to acquire Canadian oil assets, Morneau didn’t rule out such changes. He said his government expects to discuss with its Chinese counterparts how to spur more investment in Canada.
“We will express a continued interest in having a renewed relationship with China. In that regard, we’ll be talking about how we can work together,” Morneau said. “Those questions will be things that we’ll talk about, and our view will be that we’ll try and find ways that we can continue to encourage investment in our country.”
Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper, whose Conservative Party was beaten by Trudeau’s Liberals in 2015, approved the $15.1 billion sale of oil and gas company Nexen Inc. to China’s Cnooc Ltd. in 2012. At the same time he introduced a measure that the government in future would only allow a state-owned enterprise to acquire an oil sands company under “exceptional circumstances.”
Trudeau and Morneau will lead the Canadian delegation on an official visit to China, leaving later this month on a trip that also takes in the Sept. 4-5 G20 Leaders’ Summit in Hangzhou. Trudeau has said he aims to “promote greater dialogue” between the countries, while G20 leaders will focus on ways to spur global growth.
“Our goal will be to be communicating to the world why they should be investing in Canada,” Morneau said Sunday. “We see Canada as a real beacon for investment globally, a country with low political risk, a highly skilled workforce, and that’s something we want to communicate to G20 countries.”
Canada’s economy has struggled recently with low growth triggered in large part by slumping oil prices that have sapped investment and employment in its once-booming energy sector. Trudeau’s debut budget this year forecast cumulative deficits of close to C$120 billion ($93 billion) over six years in a bid to stoke growth.
加拿大拟放宽法规吸引中国投资，具体细节G20谈[
2016年08月22日14:20 国际金融报
加拿大财长莫诺（Bill Morneau）近日表示，该国可能考虑放宽外国投资法规，包括向中国国有企业开放，以吸引更多资金和促进经济增长。
他称，不排除检讨对中国国企等收购石油资产的限制。
加拿大政府预期在下月初杭州举行的二十国集团（G20）会议期间，与中方讨论如何促进在加方的投资。
莫诺将与总理特鲁多等官员一道出席此次首脑峰会。莫诺称，他们将表达持续与中国继续发展关系的兴趣，就此，双方将谈及如何能够合作。
莫诺提到，出席G20会议的目标将是向全世界传达他们为何应投资加拿大的讯息，理由包括政治风险低和有高度技术劳工等。
特鲁多也在此前发表声明称：“将努力争取加中达成更密切和平衡的关系，释放两国在商业领域潜力，在社会治理、法治和环境等领域更进一步。”
加拿大经济近期萎靡不振，大部分原因在于油价大跌造成该国能源产业投资和就业下滑。根据加方披露的数据，中国是加拿大仅次于美国的第2大贸易伙伴。2015年，双边贸易额接近858亿美元。加拿大还希望今后增加中国留学生和游客人数。
（国际金融报记者袁源）
