By Dian Cohen
Chinese New Year 2023 began January 22, a Year of the Rabbit. For the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic began, people in China can travel freely for the Lunar New Year. Considering that we’re halfway around the world you may wonder why we should care.
One reason is that in 2018, before the pandemic, Canada welcomed close to a million Chinese tourists. They collectively spent $3.6 billion in Quebec alone, second only to American visitors. Considering that the Townships has only recently been named a “destination” by the New York Times, we can expect that post-Covid, we will again have our share of such largesse.
Of course, there’s more we might want to consider about China. Much is being made of the fact that India, where half the population is under the age of 30 (think ‘consumer’), has now surpassed China as the world’s most populous economy. While the Indian economy will become more important in the future, the fact is that China is our second-most valuable trading partner behind the United States and will likely remain so for the rest of the decade at least.
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