He was greeted at the airport of this provincial capital by federal Minister of Fisheries and Oceans David Anderson, British Columbia Premier Glen Clark and Chinese Consul-General in Vancouver Song Youming.

Zhu was expected to meet Clark, visit the Institute of Ocean Science and attend a dinner on Monday (local time).

The Chinese delegation flew into Victoria from Calgary, a city in Alberta well-known for its energy resources.

Zhu met Alberta Premier Ralph Klein in Calgary on Sunday afternoon. Klein held a reception for Zhu following their meeting.

Alberta has a long history of friendly co-operation with China, and Zhu's tour and President Jiang Zemin's visit in 1997 elevated relations, Klein said in his address.

China has become a major trade partner of Alberta, and the province will enhance efforts to consolidate its economic and trade co-operation with the nation, said Klein.

China is happy to see Alberta has become a friendly province with China's Heilongjiang Province, and the two have achieved solid economic and trade co-operation, Zhu said.

Both provinces have abundant oil resources and are important grain-producing bases. They can strengthen co-operation by learning from each other, said Zhu.

Economic and trade co-operation between Alberta and China will help promote Sino-Canadian friendly co-operations, Zhu added.

Before the meeting, China National Petroleum Corp and the government of Alberta signed an agreement on the management and operation of the Petroleum Centre of China and Alberta.

(China Daily 04/20/1999)