China Awaits Trans Mountain as Canadian Pipeline Saga Drags On

(Bloomberg) -- The head of China's consulate in Calgary says her country would like to see the Trans Mountain crude oil pipeline expansion, conceived to ship more Canadian crude to Asia, to be completed.

While the amount of oil that the pipeline would help bring to China would probably not be very large, the project will help the Chinese companies invested in Canada, said Lu Xu, consul general of the People's Republic of China in Calgary. The line also would be a symbol of how the two countries can collaborate and benefit from each other, she said, and she hopes to see the countries increase trade in other areas, such as technology and manufacturing.

She said she has been following the pipeline saga since she arrived in Calgary in September 2017 and is learning to be patient as she watches it progress toward construction.

“I see progress gradually,” she said in an interview at the Bennett Jones Lake Louise World Cup Business Forum. “Probably I have to get used to it because in China everything is fast, and the decision-making is fast, and the actions taken by the companies are fast, but here you have to be patient.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Kevin Orland in Calgary at korland@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Simon Casey at scasey4@bloomberg.net, Carlos Caminada, Will Wade

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