OTTAWA, Jan 4: Trade Minister David Emerson will visit China and Mongolia between Jan 7 and 11 to pursue trade and investment opportunities, becoming the first senior official from Canada in a decade to visit Mongolia.

As well, Emerson will be the first Canadian minister to travel to China since a meeting here in October between the Dali Lama and Prime Minister Stephen Harper irked Beijing.

“Canada and China are accelerating bilateral trade through two-way investment, science and technology partnerships,” Emerson said in a statement.

“This visit will allow us to strengthen existing areas of cooperation and explore new ways to drive our relationship forward.” In Beijing, Emerson will be hosted by Commerce Minister Chen Deming.

Two-way trade between Canada and China reached a record $42 billion in 2006, up 15 per cent over the previous year.—AFP