According to a Government of British Columbia news release, 11 agreements, valued in the billions, were signed between BC and Guangdong companies during Guangdong Party Secretary Hu Chunhua’s visit in May. From May 8-9, 2016, over 200 government and business representatives from Guangdong visited BC, creating agreements such as a 25-year export agreement between BC’s Woodfibre LNG and Guangzhou Gas Group for exports of liquefied natural gas to Guangzhou, Guangdong’s capital and largest city.
With a population of over 100 million, Guangdong’s 2015 GDP was more than US$1 trillion (C$1.4 trillion), placing it among the world’s 15 largest economies. Annual exports from BC to China were valued at C$300 million in 1996, but by 2014 exports to China had reached C$6.3 billion annually. This year, the BC-Guangdong sister-province agreement turns 21, with May’s delegation continuing the two provinces’ exchanges of culture, investment, and trade. British Columbians of Chinese ethnic origin total nearly 500,000.