I have a Wall Street Journal article in front of me that speaks of the China Investment Corporation, CIC.
CIC has a fund of almost $900 billion Canadian. In 2009, I met Gao Xiqing, who was their chief investment officer at that time, and he told me they chose Toronto over New York because Canada was more open to Chinese investment than the Americans.
The Wall Street Journal article is headlined “CIC May Move North American Headquarters to New York from Toronto”. The article refers to concerns that the Canadian government “might be rolling up the welcome mat it once laid out for Asian” investment. It referred specifically to tighter rules around state-owned enterprise investment and ambiguity for Chinese investment in Canada post CNOOC-Nexen.
Mr. Kingston, you referred to some areas where the government could do a better job of potentially promoting Canadian investment opportunities in China. Would making our rules around foreign investment clearer and less ambiguous be one of the areas we should tackle?