China : Canada's Strategic Imperative

China continues to grow in strategic importance for Canada and the world as a trade and innovation partner. China features untapped growth potential from internal integration and is underwriting East Asian regional integration through initiatives such as the One Belt – One Road trade corridor, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. From the cocoon of an ageing developing economy, a new China is emerging – young, urban, university-trained, and tech savvy. Driven by its singular focus on technological advance, and fueled by heavy R&D spending and a rapidly growing R&D workforce, China is becoming an innovation hub. China wants an FTA with Canada; as globalization faces headwinds in Canada's traditional markets, Canada should seize the offer. This paper develops the argument