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Canada-China Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA)
In keeping with this commitment, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Chinese President Hu Jintao witnessed the signing of the Canada-China Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA) on September 8, 2012. The Agreement was signed by Canada’s Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, Ed Fast, and China’s Minister of Commerce, Chen Deming, on the margins of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Meeting in Vladivostok, Russia.
A FIPA is a treaty designed to protect and promote Canadian investment abroad through legally binding provisions as well as to promote foreign investment in Canada. By ensuring greater protection against discriminatory and arbitrary practices, and enhancing predictability of a market’s policy framework, a FIPA allows investors to invest with greater confidence. Canada has consistently supported strong, rules-based investment through the negotiation of FIPAs.
Following today’s signing, the agreement will be tabled in the House of Commons for 21 sitting-days pursuant to the Government’s treaty tabling policy. It will then come into force once the Order in Council has been approved by the Governor General of Canada and the ratification process in the People’s Republic of China has been completed.
Canadian investment in China stood at a record high of almost $4.5 billion in 2011 – an increase of 9.6 percent over 2010 levels. The potential for increased Canadian investment in China is significant given the country is expected to become the world’s largest economy by 2020.
Chinese investment in Canada amounted to $10.9 billion in 2011. Chinese firms are actively investing abroad and have expressed a strong interest in investing in Canada. Sectors of interest include, among others, mining, and oil and gas extraction.
