British Columbia Premier Christy Clark (left) and Minister Teresa Wat (second from right) check out the new Huawei phone at Huawei's headquarters in Shenzhen during the China Trade Mission 2015. provided to China Daily

British Columbia Premier Christy Clark recently highlighted how essential foreign trade is to the province.

Clark offered a personal greeting at a fundraising gala hosted by the Richmond Centre BC Liberals on Nov 24 that attracted nearly 300 attendees.

Her opening remarks were decidedly focused on trade and emphasizing strong relations with China, as well as recognizing the Honourable Teresa Wat, BC minister of international trade, for her work in the area.

"Now you know why trade is important," Clark said to members of the business community. "You know that without trade, British Columbia, we can't grow. We are a province of a small, open economy in a very big, competitive world.

"And if we don't trade, we don't create wealth," she said. "And if we don't create wealth, we don't create jobs. And if we don't create jobs, we can't create the kind of fair society that we have in Canada where we have the opportunity to share resources, build a great education system, [and] build a great healthcare system.

Clark said that "without trade, we could never have built this country that is the envy of the world".

She lauded the growth of China-Canada trade relations and the diversification of Canadian trading partners in general. She noted that while the United States had been the main market for Canadian goods in the past, it is necessary to broaden British Columbia's economic scope. "When you've only got one customer, you only get one price," she said.

Clark also discussed her recent trade delegation to China last month, as she and roughly 200 business and community leaders formed one of the largest trade delegations in BC history.

The trip celebrated the 20th anniversary of sister-province relations between British Columbia and Guangdong, as well as the establishment of trade agreements with an increasingly environmentally conscious China.

She and Wat signed two Memoranda of Understanding during the trip, one on ensuring clean technology development and the other on trade and investment. The agreements extended from the municipal to the provincial, as both the city of Shenzhen and the province of Guangdong signed the deal.

"Historically, BC's cultural ties with Guangdong run deep," Wat said. "Most Canadians of Chinese descent come from Guangdong, and there are about 20,000 Canadians who live in Guangdong"

"Pierre Trudeau, the former prime minister (and new Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's father), was the first (leader) of a Western country to establish diplomatic relationship with China, so everyone in China remembers him," Wat said.