Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay has wrapped up his 10-day visit to China, which saw the two countries sign 18 agriculture and agri-food agreements worth over $353 million.

MacAulay led Canada’s delegation at the Canada pavilion at the China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, where over 100,000 people visited Canada’s national pavilion.

“Our Government is working hard to ensure that we export even more of our high-quality, safe food products to the Chinese market, which will ensure we continue to create good jobs for Canadians and strengthen our middle class," said MacAulay. "Throughout my two weeks in China, I took every opportunity to forge new relationships with my counterparts and business partners and promote our world-class agricultural sector.”

The ag minister also attended the China Fisheries and Seafood Expo (CFSE) and Food and Hotel China (FHC) to promote Canadian Agriculture. These two tradeshows were attended by over 120,000 people and are anticipated to generate over $285 million in new sales for Canada's agriculture, food and seafood sectors.

MacAulay also took the opportunity to meet with his Chinese counterpart Han Changfu to discuss key trade issues including canola, biotechnology and science cooperation.

Minister of Finance, Bill Morneau, and Minister of International Trade Diversification, Jim Carr, were also in China to attend the Canada-China Economic and Finance Strategic Dialogue (EFSD).