Federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay will lead a trade mission to China next week.

The minister's first stop, Shanghai, will include several promotional activities and a visit to Food and Hospitality China, the largest food trade show in China, which attracts international food and beverage suppliers.

"China is a priority market for the Government of Canada, and by strengthening our continued trade relationship we're helping to create jobs at home and bring prosperity to farmers and Canadian families," said MacAulay. "This trade mission will open the door to many opportunities between our two countries, which in turn, will help us reach our target to grow Canada's agri-food exports to $75 billion by 2025".

While in China, MacAulay will also meet with key government officials to advance trade issues and areas of cooperation, including issues surrounding science based regulations.  

Meetings with representatives from key Chinese e-commerce platforms are also scheduled.

China is Canada's second-most valuable agri-food export market after the U.S. In 2016, the value of Canada's total agriculture, agri-food, and seafood exports to China was $6.8 billion.