Canada–China
China's Profile
Economic Indicators
- Gross domestic product (GDP) at purchasing power parity (PPP): US$23.3 trillion (2017)
- GDP per capita at PPP: US$16,800 (2017)
- Population: 1.4 billion (2017)
- International merchandise exports and imports: 33.5% of GDP at official exchange rates (2017)
- Canada's 2nd largest merchandise trade partner (2017)
- Canada's 5th largest services trade partner (2016)
- Ease of Doing Business ranking: 78th among 190 countries (2017)
- World Competitiveness ranking: 28th among 137 countries (2017)
Notable Trade and Investment Agreements between Canada and China
- Canada–China Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (2014)
- Canada–China Free Trade Agreement (exploratory discussions)
Notes
The Library of Parliament's Trade and Investment series provides information on Canada's trade and investment relationship with the world and with selected countries. It also describes the trade relationship of each of Canada's 10 provinces and three territories with the world. In addition, it presents Canada's merchandise trade relationship with each of the United States' 50 states.
All figures were prepared using Statistics Canada data available in spring 2018.
To see the data tables used to generate the figures, view the HTML version of this profile at Trade and Investment Series 2017.
The merchandise trade data are customs‑based; the services trade data and foreign direct investment data are balance of payments‑based.
Numbers in this profile have been rounded.
All dollar amounts are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted.
Definitions appear at the end of this profile.
Definitions are available.
The five most highly valued merchandise export and import categories have been identified based on 2017 values.
In the Economic Indicators section, data for GDP at PPP, GDP per capita at PPP, population, and international merchandise exports and imports as a share of GDP are from the World Bank's World Development Indicators database. The merchandise and services trade rankings are based on Statistics Canada data. The Ease of Doing Business ranking is from the World Bank's Doing Business project. The World Competitiveness ranking is from the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report.
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In addition, you can download each chart individually to multiple formats by clicking on the "Download figure" button at the top right of the chart. Before downloading bar charts and charts with plotted points, you may turn datasets on or off.
Marie Dumont
Economics, Resources and International Affairs Division
Parliamentary Information and Research Service
Publication No. 2018-588-E
16 November 2018
Canada's Merchandise Trade with China
Bilateral merchandise trade in 2017: $94.5 billion
- Exports: $23.6 billion, a 12.5% increase from 2016
- Imports: $70.9 billion, a 10.1% increase from 2016
Trade deficit in 2017: $47.3 billion, an increase from $43.4 billion in 2016
Exports in 2017: 4.3% of the total value of Canadian exports, an increase from 4.1% in 2016
Imports in 2017: 12.6% of the total value of Canadian imports, an increase from 12.1% in 2016
Highest‑valued exporters in 2017:
- British Columbia – $6.9 billion, an increase from $6.1 billion in 2016
- Alberta – $3.9 billion, an increase from $3.1 billion in 2016
Exports in 2017:
- Resource‑based goods – 40.5%, an increase from 38.2% in 2016
- Manufactured goods – 59.5%, a decrease from 61.8% in 2016
Highest‑valued exports in 2017: Canola seeds and wood pulp, together accounting for 21.4% of the total value of Canadian exports to China
- Canola seeds: $2.6 billion, an increase from $1.9 billion in 2016
- Wood pulp: $2.4 billion, an increase from $2.1 billion in 2016
Imports in 2017:
- Resource‑based goods – 0.6%, unchanged from 2016
- Manufactured goods – 99.4%, unchanged from 2016
Highest‑valued imports in 2017: Cellular telephones and laptop computers, together accounting for 16.0% of the total value of Canadian imports from China
- Cellular telephones: $6.0 billion, an increase from $4.4 billion in 2016
- Laptop computers: $4.5 billion, an increase from $4.3 billion in 2016
Largest merchandise trade deficit in 2017: Machinery and equipment, at $32.0 billion
Largest merchandise trade surplus in 2017: Agriculture and food, at $6.2 billion
Canada's Services Trade with China
Bilateral services trade in 2016: $5.6 billion
- Exports: $3.1 billion, a 15.0% increase from 2015
- Imports: $2.5 billion, a 0.2% decrease from 2015
Trade surplus in 2016: $689.0 million, an increase from $273.0 million in 2015
Services trade surplus in 2016: Largely due to travel services trade
- Travel services exports:
$2.0 billion - Travel services imports: $717.0 million
Canada's Foreign Direct Investment with China
Stock of Canadian direct investment in China in 2017: $10.7 billion, a 3.9% increase from 2016
China as a destination for Canadian foreign direct investment among the 127 countries for which data were available for 2017: 15th largest
Stock of Chinese direct investment in Canada in 2017: $16.4 billion, a 7.5% increase from 2016
China as a source of foreign direct investment in Canada among the 59 countries for which data were available for 2017: 9th largest
Data on Chinese direct investment in Canada are not available for 2006
1.0% of Canada's foreign direct investment stock was in China in 2017, unchanged from 2016
2.0% of the foreign direct investment stock in Canada was of Chinese origin in 2017, an increase from 1.9% in 2016
Data on Chinese direct investment in Canada are not available for 2006