B.C. premier visiting China to pitch LNG project as province’s ‘really big fish’

B.C.’s Premier David Eby says his first-ever trade trip to China will focus on pitching the province’s forestry products and energy sector around LNG development, approaching the mission with both excitement and caution.

Eby says China is the province’s second-largest trading partner, and the province is expanding relationships beyond the United States with the goal of doubling international trade over the coming decade.

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Eby will be joined by Mike Farnworth, B.C.’s Minister of Transportation and Transit, who will continue and end the trade trip in Guangzhou because the premier has to “cut it short a little bit at the request of the federal government for some final negotiations in relation to our MOU,” referring to a memorandum of understanding between B.C. and Ottawa on large infrastructure projects.

In front of reporters at the Vancouver International Airport on Saturday, shortly before his scheduled flight to China, Eby says that his trade mission has the goal to counterbalance U.S. tariffs that are “really hurting” the province’s forestry sector.

At the same time, a lot of jobs in B.C. are also dependent on the relationship with China, and he hopes to see Chinese tariffs currently impacting the province lifted, including on the seafood sector.

Eby says the “really big fish” he is seeking to land on the trip will see him meeting with PetroChina to discuss the second phase of the massive LNG facility expansion in Kitimat, with an impending final investment decision on the project expected later this year.

“The LNG Canada Phase 2 project is reaching final investment decision. It’s a consortium of four different countries, including China through Petro China,” Eby added.

“They’re reaching final investment decision in September. It’s worth about $28 billion in terms of provincial revenue to pay for public services. And so meeting with them, identifying any final concerns as they reach final investment decision is another example of concrete things that we’re seeking to achieve here.”

MOU with Ottawa coming early July

The LNG facility expansion is a project Eby hopes to use as leverage in the MOU against a potential pipeline to B.C.’s coast proposed by the Alberta government, which he opposes.

“This is going to be an agreement between the federal government and us to make sure B.C. gets our fair share, fair share on projects that are in the national interest, that were treated the same way as major projects in Quebec and Ontario and Alberta,” he explained.

“It’s crucial for us to be given the amount of money sent to Ottawa by British Columbians. It’s crucial for us to be treated in a fair way by Ottawa, and a formal written agreement is going to get us there.”

He hopes to finalize those negotiations soon and to announce a completed agreement at the beginning of July.

Eby says he’s received briefings from both the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service in advance of the trip to ensure “our team is fully aware of how to minimize risk and to maximize opportunities while visiting.”

“That is unfortunately something that we increasingly need to do in this current global environment,” he said.

Eby adds that the government didn’t release his full itinerary for the trip to China to avoid giving competitors in other provinces and countries a potential “unfair advantage,” as the mission seeks to drum up customers and deals for B.C. companies.