CANADA SIGNS ENVIRONMENTAL COOPERATION AGREEMENT WITH CHINA

BEIJING, China, Oct. 29 /CNW/ - Canada's Environment Minister, Jim Prentice, and China's Minister of Environmental Protection, Zhou Shengxian, today signed a renewed memorandum of understanding (MOU) on environmental cooperation. The signing ceremony took place in Beijing.

"Canada has a long history of successful collaboration with China and recognizes the global importance of this great country," said Minister Prentice. "We will continue building on this long-standing relationship on all fronts, including environmental cooperation, and we will seek to reach mutual understanding of each others concerns to find common ground for advancing joint environmental interests on climate change and other environmental issues."

The Canada-China MOU on environmental cooperation will facilitate collaborative work and the exchange of scientific information between Environment Canada and China's Ministry of Environmental Protection. Of particular interest to Canada are cooperative activities related to biodiversity, water, mercury emissions, environmental emergencies and environmental industries.

Minister Prentice stressed the tremendous opportunities that exist for both China and Canada to cooperate in other areas including national parks, protected areas and environmental assessment and monitoring related to heavy oil developments. Both countries have agreed to develop and implement a joint action plan for cooperation and Minister Prentice invited Minister Zhou Shengxian to visit Canada in mid-November to sign the action plan.

Through agreements like the one signed today, the Government of Canada continues to demonstrate its commitment to a new era of partnership with one of the world's most rapidly growing economies and also demonstrates its leadership on environmental issues internationally.

For more information and to view a backgrounder on the Canada-China environmental cooperation agreement, please visit Environment Canada's website at http://www.ec.gc.ca/.

To access the Canada-China environmental cooperation agreement, please visit http://www.ec.gc.ca/international/default.asp?Lang=En&n=DC02572E-1.

(Également offert en français)                                                   

For further information:

Pascale Boulay Press Secretary Office of the Minister of the Environment 819-997-1441	Media Relations Environment Canada 819-934-8008 1-888-908-8008
Canada's Environment Minister Twitter page: http://twitter.com/jimprentice	Environment Canada's Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/environmentcan