Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne off to China on trade mission

Premier Kathleen Wynne is off on her final trade mission before the June election.

She left Wednesday for Beijing, her third business trip to China since becoming premier in February 2013.

Wynne will also visit Vietnam.

“As premier, I want to make sure Ontario businesses have every opportunity to remain competitive in a global, rapidly changing economy,” she said in a statement, noting China is Ontario’s second-largest trading partner after the United States with two-way trade of $42 billion.

The focus of her fortnight abroad is the agri-food sector, science and technology, and medicine.

“Over the next two weeks, I look forward to working with Ontario delegates as they connect with international partners to help grow their business, create good jobs and seek new opportunities that benefit people across the province.”

Joined by more than 100 corporate and academic delegates from Ontario, Wynne will meet with business leaders and politicians in Beijing, Nanjing, Chongqing, and Shenzhen before departing for Hong Kong. The series of meetings starts Friday.

She will then become the first Ontario premier to visit Vietnam. With hopes of further cashing in on trade with that fast-growing emerging economy, Wynne will be in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.

Trade between the province and Vietnam was worth more than $3 billion last year, nearly four times what it was in 2012.

During her time as premier, Wynne, who returns home Dec. 6, has also visited India, Israel, Japan, South Korea, and a number of U.S. states, to attract investment to Ontario.

With Ontarians headed to the polls on June 7, 2018, opposition wags have joked that her excursion to China, Hong Kong and Vietnam is a farewell tour.