Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have this opportunity to respond to the question asked by the hon. member for Richmond Hill, regarding Canada's negotiations with China to achieve an operational approved destination status.
The government has committed to finalizing approved destination status or ADS. ADS would provide a significant boost in tourism between Canada and China, a boost that would benefit Canada's important tourism sector. That is why the government has raised this issue directly with senior Chinese officials at every opportunity.
The Minister of International Trade travelled to China this past January. The minister met with his new Chinese counterpart, Minister Chen Deming. The two had a series of meetings where the full range of Canada-China bilateral commercial relations were discussed.
The ministers talked about ongoing progress in the negotiation of a foreign investment promotion and protection agreement, the latest developments in the Asia-Pacific gateway and corridor initiative, improving two way investment flows and deepening commercial operation. Let me assure the hon. member that the Canada-China relationship has a solid foundation, one that was clearly evident by the warm reception the minister received when he visited China.
We made it clear that Canada was looking to advance this file. The issue has been in play for several years now. Canada would like to move ADS along in a meaningful way. Canada would like to see this end in a win-win negotiated arrangement, whereby both countries would stand to benefit from the increased people to people ties that ADS would help facilitate, especially with China and Canada being back to back hosts for the Olympic Games. Therefore, we continue to pursue this objective with the Chinese at every single opportunity.
The Government of Canada recognizes that the tourism industry is a vital part of Canada's economy. Tourism generates $60 billion of revenue in Canada. It contributes to the economy of every region. China is an important tourism market for Canada and is one of our target markets. The Canadian Tourism Commission has an office in Beijing, has launched a Mandarin website and has participated in various tourism fairs in China.
Members can be assured that the government will continue to press the Chinese for progress on ADS. However, the hon. member must also be aware that ADS and tourism is but one component of our expansive commercial ties with China, which include bilateral trade, innovation cooperation and two way investments.
The Canada-China relationship will continue to grow and, in the meanwhile, individual Chinese visitors continue to come to Canada even without ADS. Preliminary estimates show that 146,000 overnight visitors came to Canada in 2007, the fourth straight year of growth. Canada has seen growth of about 12% in Chinese visitors since 2000.