OTTAWA — Canada needs a “reality check” in its approach to free trade with China, particularly amid a dispute over canola exports that points to deeper-lying contradictions in Chinese trade policy, a new report warns. Canada exports roughly 90 per cent of its canola, and sold $2.7 billion worth of the commodity to China in 2018. In her report, Chen said a free trade agreement with China would likely involve reducing barriers for Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to acquire assets in Canada. Chinese SOEs have long been known to use their clout to further the broader ambitions of the Communist Party of China. In all of its free trade deals, China agrees to protections on private ownership of assets, which creates lopsided incentives in China’s mostly state-owned land system.

Source: National Post March 28, 2019 11:03 UTC