Xi'an festival celebrates Canadian culture

The Canadian government hosted a food festival in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province in western China on Oct 20, 2015.[Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

On Tuesday, in an effort to promote its agricultural products, the Canadian government hosted a food festival in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province in western China.

During the opening ceremony of the festival held at Century Ginwa Shopping Mall, consumers sampled many Canadian products including honey, ice wine, and fruit.

Cindy Termorshuizen is deputy head of mission at the Canadian Embassy in Beijing, she told China Daily that year 2015 marks an important milestone in Canada-China relations as it's the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

"People in Xi'an require high-quality food, which we can offer," said Termorshuizen.

"Xi'an is a distribution center in central China and a key logistics hub along the new Silk Road, which demonstrated that the city is the best place for us to introduce our agricultural products to the country, especially in western China."

According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, Canada exported 534 million yuan to Xi'an in 2014, a 169.35 percent increase compared to the previous year.

The import and export trading volume between Canada and Xi'an reached 972 million yuan last year, up 9.34 percent year-on-year.

Last November, in a state visit to China, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang designated 2015-2016 as the year of people-to-people and cultural exchange.

"The ties between Canada and China will be closer in future and the embassy will help Canadian companies do businesses in China," said Termorshuizen.

As the second largest trading partner of Canada, China is the second biggest market for Canadian exports, only behind the US.

Last year, Canada's total export to China reached C$19.4 billion ($14.95 billion). The mutual trading volume between the two countries was C$78 billion, up 6.6 percent compared to the previous year.