SHENZHEN, CHINA--(Marketwire - April 14, 2010) - Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien is currently leading a business delegation from Canada's capital city on a trade mission to the Chinese cities of Beijing, Chongqing, Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Mayor O'Brien's April 6^th-16^th trade mission is coordinated by OCRI, Ottawa's lead economic development agency, and is the eighth mission by OCRI's global marketing team over the last four years.

The Ottawa business delegation includes senior executives from nine local cleantech and ICT companies plus representatives from Ottawa Tourism and OCRI, and has meetings planned over the next two days in Shenzhen and Hong Kong. 

Following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding by Mayor Larry O'Brien and Beijing Mayor Guo Jinlong to enhance and extend the principles of the 1999 Beijing-Ottawa cooperation agreement, which takes the previous agreement to a higher level of engagement, other delegation members achieved notable business progress in Beijing including:

• a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Plasco Energy Group Inc. and Beijing Environmental Sanitation Engineering Group Co. (BESG). The MOU commits BESG and Plasco to work cooperatively towards a definitive agreement by May 30th of this year for delivery of a solid waste Plasco Conversion Facility to BESG;

• confirmation that a senior delegation from Beijing will be traveling to Ottawa to meet with a broad range of Ottawa cleantech companies;

• a cooperation agreement between OCRI and the Beijing Investment Promotion Bureau. The agreement outlines the intent of both parties to work together to promote economic exchange and cooperation between Ottawa and Beijing; and

• a collaboration agreement between Tourism Ottawa and Badaling Special Zone Administration, the managers of the Great Wall of China, linking the UNESCO World Heritage sites of the Great Wall and the Rideau Canal.

On the cultural front the Mayor and delegates were able to meet with artisans and senior officials who have been involved in designing Ottawa's Chinatown Gateway to celebrate the 40^th anniversary of the modern Canada-China diplomatic relationship.

In Chongqing, Mayor O'Brien conducted discussions on mutual business interests with Ma Zhengqi, Executive Vice Mayor of Chongqing. Also in Chongqing:  

• delegates met with officials in the New North Zone technology district and obtained agreement in principal to a reciprocal set of meetings in Canada; and

• Clearford Industries Inc. and Thermal Energy International Inc. presented to the China Energy Conservation Investment Corporation and Chongqing Energy Investment Group. The discussions included the recommendation that Ottawa cleantech companies be included in CQEIG's project, supplier and investment database.

Today, the delegation is in Shenzhen where they will be presented to Shenzhen Executive Vice Mayor Xu Qin and meet with senior officials from Huawei amongst others before proceeding to Hong Kong.

Canada offers an important point of entry into the North American market for Chinese companies. Businesses from Ottawa, Canada's Creative Economy Capital, have much to contribute to Chinese sustainable growth and prosperity initiatives. In 2010 Richard Florida, Martin Prosperity Institute Director and author of the international best seller Who's Your City? rates Ottawa as the "Best Overall" city in Canada on a "Creative Class Index" based on the 3Ts of economic development – Technology, Talent and Tolerance – higher than New York, Boston, Washington and San Jose and also higher than international cities like London, England. In 2010, Ottawa has also been named one of the world's top seven intelligent communities by the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF).

Ottawa offers important tax advantages to Chinese companies setting up new operations in North America. Canada's combined federal and provincial business taxes average 32.5 per cent compared to the U.S. federal/state business tax burden of 33.9 per cent. And Canada's business taxes are projected to fall dramatically over coming years, down to 16.9 per cent by 2012 for Ottawa-based companies.

According to economists surveyed by Bloomberg News earlier this month, Canada will grow 3.1 per cent in 2010, the fastest clip among the Group of Seven nations. And Canada is on course to be the first G-7 nation to erase its budget gap after the global financial crisis.

For regular updates on Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien's trade mission to China please visit http://ocriblogs.com/.

About OCRI:

Leading the way for Ottawa, OCRI is the city's economic development agency. OCRI is the rallying point to bring business, education, research and talent together to create the winning economic conditions that allow Ottawa's knowledge-based companies to thrive locally and compete globally. At OCRI we promote sustainable economic development to maintain our high quality of life. For more information on OCRI visit our website at www.ocri.ca and for more information on the Ottawa Region please visit www.ottawaregion.com. In 2010, Ottawa was named one of the world's top seven intelligent communities by the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF).