Xu Jinghong, chairman of Tsinghua Holdings Co Ltd, a technology conglomerate backed by Tsinghua University, joined the China Entrepreneur Club (CEC) delegation’s visit to Canada, Oct 16 – 22.

The journey covered the cities of Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, and Vancouver. The delegation mainly looked into Canada’s policy landscape, the opportunities during economic transformation, and competitiveness in talent and technology. It also fostered communication with important technological and innovative companies in consumer goods and finance.                

Here are some remarks of Xu Jinghong during his visit in Canada.

"China's economy is in a critical transition period, and China has embraced a 30-year rapid growth period through reform and opening-up and utilizing production factors and investment. Considering the international situation and the characteristics of China’s economy in this specific period, only innovation can bring better economic development. So the production and investment drivers should be turned to innovation drivers. With the development of the Chinese economy, China is having more extensive and deeper exchanges with other countries, and there are many opportunities and great potential for cooperation between Chinese and Canadian enterprises. I look forward to more exchanges to deepen understanding and more cooperation in the future." 

--remarks at a keynote speech at the QG100 Roundtable Meeting in Montreal on Oct 17.

Xu (R) makes a keynote speech at a QG100 Network Roundtable Meeting in Montreal on Oct 17.

"Finance will play an increasingly big role in the development of commerce in the future. Taking Tsinghua Holdings as an example, its total assets grew from $10 billion to $50 billion over the past four years, which is mainly attributed to the greater use of financial capital into industries. China is promoting mass entrepreneurship and innovation, and there are tremendous cooperation opportunities for Chinese and Canadian enterprises, which will bring about a win-win situation for both sides."

--remarks at a roundtable meeting hosted by Toronto Financial Services Alliance (TFSA) on Oct 19

Xu addresses the TFSA Roundtable Meeting in Toronto on Oct 19.

"China will face challenges as an aging society, and Canada has very advanced management experience in the fields relating to the aged. The present changes in China’s consumption patterns are dominated by the young people, whose consumption tends to be personalized and Internet-oriented, so the enterprises that rely on large production and standardized production will face challenges. Customized production will be the trend of the future."

--remarks at a roundtable meeting attended by Chinese and Canadian business leaders on Oct 20

Xu speaks at the China-Canada Business Leaders Roundtable Meeting on Oct 20.

"Tsinghua Holdings Co Ltd launched the Star-Clustering Plan and the PootStone Plan on June 26. The Ji Shi Plan will highlight the development and commercialization of major scientific and technological achievements. In the next five years, the company will invest 50 billion yuan ($7.46 billion) in technological research and development, and set up a separate 10 billion-yuan fund to accelerate the commercial applications of at least 50 state-of-the-art technologies. The Xing Ju Plan will focus on upgrading of incubating ecosystem to help the start-ups to grow. In the next five years, the company will foster over 500 start-ups -- the assets of which are worth more than 100 million yuan ($15.04million) each -- and explore in-depth cooperation with hundreds of Tsinghua Holding’s incubators to form a global and more efficient network providing services for more new businesses."

--remarks at the “Toronto Dialogue” organized by the Canada China Business Council and the Business Council of Canada on Oct 20

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau greets Xu at a meeting in Ottawa.