Nova Scotia released a Nova Scotia-China Engagement Strategy that attaches great importance to China’s market demand and it reveals the province’s intention of increasing its market share in China. And it will be revised regularly as China’s Five-Year Plans are.


The Strategy has been launched in a press conference in Halifax with Stephen McNeil, the premier of Nova Scotia and Luo Zhaohui, Chinese ambassador to Canada.

The Nova Scotia government intends to assist its companies and organizations in taking advantage of great opportunities posed by China’s prosperity. There are three key elements in the Strategy, which are Nova Scotia’s gaining comparative advantages in China’s market, the province’s establishing close cooperation with China and the strengthening of the two countries’ strategic partnership and coordination.

Nova Scotia is renowned for lobsters in Canada and its lobster export to China has skyrocketed during the past two years. The value of lobsters exported to China through Halifax Stanfield International Airport in 2015 exceeds $2.5 million Canadian dollars, increasing by more than 469% within five years. The province’s total export value of aquatic products is 1.68 billion Canadian dollars and China’s has become its third largest buyer, purchasing 12% of the seafood exported by the province.

This Strategy also proposes to promote the province’s products through e-commerce platforms in China. Currently it has been selling seafood products to different areas of China on such platforms as Taobao and Jingdong.

According to McNeil, the Strategy will boost the province’s economic growth and exports to China so that the province will create more jobs. China is its second largest trading partner, importing commodities worth 420 million Canadian dollars in 2015. The number has risen more than 50% from that of 2014, while Nova Scotia’s export is only 490 million Canadian dollars to the whole Europe.

Jules LeBlanc is the representative for the local fishery industry in the press conference. According to LeBlanc, China has become one of the most significant partners of Nova Scotia and the industry expects that their export to China can rise in accordance with the growth of China’s middle class. China’s ambassador to Canada has said that this is Canada’s first engagement strategy with China.