A delegation of government and industry professionals from Canada's Northwest Territories (NWT) visited China this week to promote the untapped abundant natural resources and tourism.

The delegation was led by Premier Bob McLeod, and accompanied by Minister David Ramsay, the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment, and a number of officials and businesses in the wild fur, mining, and tourism sectors.

Organized by the Canada China Business Council (CCBC), the delegation met representatives from the Chinese mining and tourism industries and attended a fur clothing exhibition in Beijing. After the visit in China, the delegation was scheduled to fly to Tokyo to strengthen ties with Japan, especially in tourism.

"We are here to strengthen our Territory's ties with China and to identify ways that help us all to grow our shared businesses and investment interests," said McLeod in his speech during a luncheon with Chinese business people and media on Tuesday in Beijing.

"We see a future in combining China's import needs with our supply, integrating China's increasing foreign investment capital with our capital infrastructures requirements, and harnessing emerging transportation opportunities - from Arctic shipping to Liquefied Natural Gas terminals," said McLeod, on his fifth visit to China.

"For the Northwest Territories, our relationship with China is still in its early stages, yet we know that this relationship holds tremendous potential," said McLeod. "We have much to offer that I believe may be of interest to your businesses. We have highly desirable diamond and luxury wild fur. We have untapped mineral and energy resources. And we have a growing tourism industry. We have the products and now need to build partnerships to help bring them to the world."

Chinese industrial representatives who attended the luncheon on Tuesday showed their interests and also concerns about investment in the area.

"I think Chinese investors must know clearly about the local policies and investment environment such as employment cost and tax," said Kang Guoqing, vice president of CAMCE (Canada) Holding Inc. , a Chinese mining construction company based in Canada.

"Compared to Australia, also China's major mining investment and trade partner, Canada needs to try harder to lure Chinese investors and give them confidence to invest," said Ding Yanping, managing director of CMI Resources Co Ltd, a mining consultant company based in Beijing.

Located in Canada's far north, the territory, which borders Canada's two other territories,Yukonto the west and Nunavut to the east, and sits above British Columbia and Alberta and extends up to the Arctic Circle, has a land area of 1,183,085 sqm, almost as large as China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

The population of the territory, constituting about 50% aboriginal people, is less than 45,000, only about half of capacity of the National Stadium in Beijing.

"We are hoping to attract 2,000 Chinese immigrants in the future three years," said David Ramsay.

The NWT has abundant natural resource including gold and oil, and it is the world's third-largest diamond producing region by value.

"We are a land of potential. We have copper, gold and rare earths. We have a wealth of energy resources including an estimated 80 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 15 billion barrels of oil," said McLeod.

The NWT's geological resources has attracted global energy and mining giants. British Petroleum is currently producing oil in the Territory. Two of the biggest mineral resources companies in the world, BHP Billiton and Rio Tintomine, get many of their diamonds from the NWT.

Long before the discovery of gold or diamonds, the fur trade was the original economy of the NWT. The wild fur from the area is renowned and highly sought for its luster, color and luxury.

"At every fur auction, our wild fur is in very high demand, particularly from Chinese buyers," McLeod said, continuing that the wild fur from the NWT meets or exceeds international humane harvesting standards.

The Territory is also "the Aurora Capital of the world", where its dark winter skies provide a pristine backdrop for the power and mystery of the Aurora Borealis.

"Last year at this time, CCBC and the Premier and his delegation hosted a similar luncheon to meet with the Chinese business community to explore opportunities for collaboration. The fact that the Premier has returned this year clearly demonstrates that the Northwest Territories is committed to fostering the relationships that were started a year ago, and continuing to build new ones in China," said Guy Saint-Jacques, Canada's ambassador to China.

"2014 was an important year in the Canada-China bilateral relationship," said Saint-Jacques. "The commercial relationship continued to blossom, with another year of more than $70 billion in two way trade, record levels of Chinese tourists and students in Canada, and the ratification of the Canada-China Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement.

"We saw numerous visits to China by senior Canadian officials, highlighted by Prime Minister Harper's visit in November. The attention that China gets among Canadian leaders illustrates both the rise in the importance of China in world affairs as well as the increasing importance of Canada-China relationship to Canadians."

wangru@chinadaily.com.cn