Latest news with #ChinaMerchants
Globe and Mail
3 days ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
BC Ferries says state-owned Chinese builder clear choice for new vessels despite trade war
BC Ferries is buying four massive ferries from a Chinese state-owned shipyard to run routes to and from Vancouver Island, saying that bidder was the clear choice despite China being locked in a trade war with Canada. The publicly owned ferry operator announced this week that China Merchants Industry Weihai Shipyards had won the right to build these vessels and that no Canadian companies stepped up, mostly because they are too busy fulfilling federal military contracts. BC Ferries – one of the largest and most complex ferry systems in the world – would not disclose the value of the shipbuilding contract, stating the need to protect its ability negotiate on future deals to build three more boats in the coming decade. British Columbia's Transportation Minister Mike Farnworth was disappointed the contract bypassed local shipyards, but acknowledged BC Ferries 'made a business decision.' Still, he called on BC Ferries to be transparent about the costs of the overhaul of its aging fleet, but noted he had no power to compel the company, since it was privatized 20 years ago. The company has one single voting share held by the B.C. Ferry Authority, which is owned by the province. 'At the end of the day, people will want to know how much you're spending and that would be regardless of where they were built, whether they're built here or whether they were built elsewhere,' Mr. Farnworth said in an interview Wednesday. 'So I expect that will come up.' An aging fleet, growing demand, spiralling costs: Rough seas for BC Ferries When The Globe and Mail reported earlier this year on BC Ferries applying to its provincial regulator to approve its bid for five new vessels, officials confirmed those ships would total more than $1-billion. The regulator ultimately approved only four of the five ships being built and BC Ferries CEO Nicolas Jimenez said this week the new contract fits within its approved budget. Mr. Jimenez also said the current bilateral tensions played no role in the shipbuilding decision, adding his primary focus was getting the province a good deal. 'Customers expect us to go source the best possible deal, the highest quality, a yard that provides safety, a yard that provides the highest in standards when it comes to oversight and labour, and to get the best cost,' he said at a news conference Tuesday. 'When it comes to things like trade policy, industrial policy, geopolitics, we would really defer that to the federal and provincial governments and expect them to manage and work those issues.' BC Ferries has said its fleet is already running at capacity at peak travel times, and with population growth, the service is only going to get worse for users, including for commercial traffic that is integral to the province's supply chains. It said Weihai Shipyards has built vessels for Canada's Marine Atlantic ferry company and other operators such as Corsica Linea and Brittany Ferries of France. Mr. Jimenez added China's tariffs don't affect the import of these types of ships into Canada. Bruce Williams, CEO of the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce, said BC Ferries did its due diligence during its years-long procurement process. BC Ferries pushes for swift approval of $1-billion shipbuilding contract amid tariff threats Mr. Farnworth said he had no national security concerns with a state-owned Chinese shipyard constructing these vessels and noted Ottawa recently committed to high-level talks with China to thaw the trade dispute. B.C.'s and Canada's second largest international trading partners are both China, yet B.C. Premier David Eby's recent 10-day trade mission included Japan, South Korea and Malaysia while excluding Asia's biggest economy. The Opposition B.C. Conservatives have called on Mr. Eby's government to cancel the contract that was announced on Tuesday, while accusing him of abandoning Canadian workers. When the request for proposals was issued last fall, B.C. shipbuilder Seaspan said in a statement that 'Canadian shipyards and their supply chains cannot compete with low-wage countries that have lower employment standards, lower environmental standards and lower safety standards than Canada and B.C.' Seaspan said in a statement Tuesday that it was currently building ships for the Royal Canadian Navy and the Canadian Coast Guard at its North Vancouver shipyard. The B.C. Federation of Labour, which represents roughly half a million union members in the province, issued a strong rebuke of a contract it labelled a 'colossal mistake.' 'According to media reports, BC Ferries defended itself by saying 60% of major ships in the world are built in China,' the organization posted on social media. 'Wrong-headed decisions like this are the reason why.' With a report from The Canadian Press
CTV News
3 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
Business leader says BC Ferries' hiring of Chinese shipyard is ‘informed decision'
The BC Ferries vessel Spirit of Vancouver Island leaves Tsawwassen, B.C., bound for Swartz Bay, on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck A business leader on ferry-dependent Vancouver Island says BC Ferries made a 'strongly informed decision' in hiring a Chinese shipyard to build four new major vessels. Both the NDP government and B.C. Conservative Opposition have criticized the choice of Chinese state-owned China Merchants Industry Weihai Shipyards. But Bruce Williams, CEO of the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce, says it's in the best interests of all who rely on BC Ferries. He says few companies around the world have the capacity to build vessels of such size, and BC Ferries did 'due diligence' for years in a global procurement process that did not receive any Canadian bids. The B.C. Conservatives have called on Premier David Eby's government to cancel the contract that was announced on Tuesday, while accusing Eby of abandoning Canadian workers. Transportation Minister Mike Farnworth says he raised concern with BC Ferries about the contract, but notes that the operator is an independent company that makes its own operational decisions. The provincial government is the sole preferred shareholder in BC Ferries and it receives public funding, but Williams says the purchase decision is not a government decision. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 11, 2025. Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press
CBC
4 days ago
- Business
- CBC
Minister concerned over B.C. Ferries' construction deal with Chinese shipyard
British Columbia's transport minister has raised concerns with B.C. Ferries about its decision to have a Chinese shipyard build four new ferries for its passenger fleet, amid an ongoing trade conflict between Canada and China. The winning bidder on the contract announced Tuesday is Chinese state-owned China Merchants Industry Weihai Shipyards. Mike Farnworth said in a statement he was worried about procuring services from "any country that is actively harming Canada's economy" with tariffs and protectionism. "B.C. Ferries is an independent company responsible for its own operational decisions," Farnworth said. "While B.C. Ferries has made its decision to purchase new vessels offshore, I am disappointed more involvement from Canadian shipyards was not part of the contract." Farnworth's remarks came hours after the announcement by B.C. Ferries CEO Nicolas Jimenez that the Chinese shipyard had been chosen to build its vessels, with the first expected to come into service in 2029 and the others following in six-month intervals. Jimenez said he wasn't worried about geopolitical tensions between Canada and China, adding his primary focus was getting the province a good deal. "Customers expect us to go source the best possible deal, [the] highest quality, a yard that provides safety, a yard that provides the highest in standards when it comes to oversight [and] labour, and to get the best cost," he said at a news conference Tuesday. "When it comes to things like trade policy, industrial policy, geopolitics, I think we would really defer that to the federal and provincial governments and expect them to manage and work those issues." He said in a news release that the shipyard was "the clear choice based on the overall strength of its bid." It said Weihai Shipyards has built vessels for Canada's Marine Atlantic ferry company and other operators such as Corsica Linea and Brittany Ferries of France. Canada and China are engaged in a trade dispute, with Beijing imposing retaliatory tariffs on Canadian canola oil and meal, peas and seafood after Ottawa slapped levies on Chinese-made electric vehicles, steel and aluminum. Jimenez said Tuesday that there are currently no tariffs associated with the import of vessels of this type into Canada and tariff disputes didn't factor into the decision. B.C. Ferries is not releasing the value of the contract other than Jimenez saying it fits within the budget approved by the B.C. Ferries Commissioner earlier this year. He said releasing details of the deal before the project is complete could put future procurements at risk. "To protect B.C. Ferries and our customers, we've structured the contract in a way that reduces our risk while increasing shipyard accountability. Most of the payment is tied to delivery, and that means the shipyard doesn't get fully paid until the vessels are delivered and meet the rigorous standards that we've laid out in the contract," he said. "There are also measures like refund guarantees and fixed price terms that will further protect B.C. Ferries and our customers." B.C. Ferries' head of fleet renewal, Ed Hooper, said no Canadian companies bid on the ships that will carry about 52 per cent more passengers and 24 per cent more vehicles than the ferries they are replacing. WATCH | 4 new ferries coming to B.C.: B.C. Ferries to build 4 new vessels to replace aging ships in fleet 2 months ago Duration 9:51 B.C. Ferries is about to get four new vessels to replace its aging fleet, set to start sailing in 2029. The decision represents the single largest capital expenditure in B.C. Ferries' history. CEO Nicolas Jimenez and B.C. Ferry and Marine Workers Union president Eric McNeely share what this means for the future of ferry travel in B.C. Jimenez said 60 per cent of the world's ships are built in China, and B.C. Ferries did due diligence to make sure it understood the "technical and delivery and country risks associated with making this decision." B.C. Ferries said it will have its own team of experts on-site at the shipyard throughout construction to provide oversight and quality assurance. In a statement, the Opposition B.C. Conservatives accused Premier David Eby of "abandoning Canadian workers" by awarding a "multibillion-dollar" contract to a Chinese state-owned enterprise. The oldest ferry being replaced is the Queen of New Westminster, built in 1964, while the Queen of Cowichan, Queen of Alberni and Queen of Coquitlam all turn 50 next year. B.C. Ferries had hoped to buy five new vessels and bring its fleet size from 10 to 11 but earlier this year the provincial regulator rejected the pitch, saying a fifth ferry "is not in the public interest" as it is "not essential for safe and reliable service and is not fiscally prudent." The parent company of China Merchants Industry Weihai Shipyards is China Merchants Industry Holdings. The conglomerate's website describes it as a "centrally administrated state-owned" enterprise with more than a 100 years of history, making it one of the oldest "Chinese-funded enterprises" in existence.
CTV News
4 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
BC Ferries picks Chinese shipyard to build four new boats coming in 2029
The BC Ferries vessel Spirit of Vancouver Island passes between Mayne Island and Galiano Island while travelling from Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen, B.C., on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck BC Ferries has chosen a Chinese shipyard to build four new ferries for its passenger fleet, with its CEO saying he's not worried about geopolitical tensions between Canada and China. CEO Nicolas Jimenez says BC Ferries won't release the cost of the contract with China Merchants Industry Weihai Shipyards, adding his primary focus was getting the province a good deal. BC Ferries' head of fleet renewal Ed Hooper says no Canadian companies bid on the ships that will carry about 52 per cent more passengers and 24 per cent more vehicles than the ferries they are replacing. Jimenez says 60 per cent of the world's ships are built in China, and BC Ferries did due diligence to make sure it understood the 'technical and delivery and country risks associated with making this decision.' He says there currently no tariffs associated with the import of vessels of this type into Canada and tariff disputes didn't factor into the decision. BC Ferries says it will have its own team of experts on-site at the shipyard throughout construction to provide oversight and quality assurance. The first vessel is expected to come into service in 2029 with the others following in six-month intervals. This report by Ashley Joannou, The Canadian Press, was first published June 10, 2025.
South China Morning Post
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
‘Global' Hong Kong mustn't lose sight of its own beauty
Hong Kong doesn't need to chase the sameness of Coldplay concerts and viral trends. It needs to be assured in its own taste This spring, In the Mood for Love is once again flickering on cinema screens in Hong Kong. More than two decades on, Wong Kar-wai's film has lost none of its glow. A meditation on time, restraint and unspoken desire, it quietly signals that Hong Kong once moved to a different rhythm. It is tempting to read this re-release as political, especially in a city where cultural memory has become a muted form of dissent. In truth, the film captures not the colonial past but the emotional present. What draws people to Wong's work is not nostalgia – rather, it's atmosphere, mood or the slow, deliberate pacing of life. Much of In the Mood for Love was filmed in Bangkok, a location chosen not for strict accuracy but for its ability to evoke a Hong Kong that no longer physically existed. That choice says everything: Wong is not archiving the past; he is conjuring up its emotional temperature and memories of fleeting spaces. With projects such as his television series Blossoms Shanghai and his curatorial work for the Prada restaurant in Shanghai, Wong continues to shape mood. Though set in the 1990s, Blossoms often evokes 1920s Shanghai through layered interiors and stained light. Wong insists that beauty does not belong in archives but in daily life: in stairwells, gestures and silence. For the director, Shanghai and Hong Kong are not just cinematic backdrops but emotional landscapes. Born in one city and raised in the other, he embodies haipai – Shanghai style – a cross-cultural current flowing between the two cities. His films trace a rhythm once shared by the cities, carried by migration, commerce and memory. Some of the world's most influential business empires, from China Merchants to Jardine Matheson, are not just headquartered in Hong Kong, they were born or remade here. Many would have begun as modest ventures in a city that offered rare opportunities for growth at the edge of empires. Maggie Cheung in a still from the 25th anniversary edition of In The Mood For Love. Photo: Jet Tone Production The city's commercial rise was never just the product of laissez-faire ideals. It was shaped by family businesses, trading houses and cross-border capital that found in Hong Kong a unique stage. In return, they shaped the city – how people dressed, ate and imagined their place in the world. Newsletter Daily Opinion By submitting, you consent to receiving marketing emails from SCMP. If you don't want these, tick here {{message}} Thanks for signing up for our newsletter! Please check your email to confirm your subscription. Follow us on Facebook to get our latest news. These firms could not have emerged the same way anywhere else. This is not to romanticise capital, but to recognise Hong Kong as a place of reinvention. Today, the critical question is not whether Hong Kong still matters, but whether its influence can shift from efficiency to authorship. If the hands that once shaped its commerce still define its skyline, perhaps they can also help restore a more deliberate kind of beauty. Not branding. Not nostalgia. Not luxury for its own sake, but a textured, intentional authenticity. Adrian Cheng's K11 represented one recent attempt at this, bringing art into retail before the market was ready. The timing was unfortunate. But the aspiration remains compelling: what if a city could feel again? Something seems to be shifting. The popularity of local films like The Last Dance and a renewed interest in tailoring and neon signs are no accident. They reflect a hunger for something more grounded. Global aesthetic slop, homogenised, packaged and served with algorithmic precision, is wearing thin. As conspicuous consumption evolves, catching a Coldplay concert has become social currency; that too says something about the city. Chris Martin at Coldplay's concert at the Kai Tak Stadium on April 9. Photo: Harvey Kong Hong Kong does not need to chase sameness. It needs to remember and be assured in its own taste, whether it's smoke curling up from incense coils at Man Mo Temple, chandeliers glittering at the Peninsula, or red plastic stools gleaming under fluorescent light. These are not trends, but texture – identity, even. And there are ways to carry them forward without flattening them into another viral design language. Hong Kong can still absorb global influences and express them in a vocabulary that feels local and lived in, as it once did. It shouldn't need to mimic the next trending aesthetic to matter. It should let its inheritance evolve into something alive. To return to Wong, the point is not to look back, but inwards, asking what kind of future knows how to feel deeply. Policy can support this shift. The aesthetic life is not a luxury but a civic resource. Private-public partnerships might seed a film archive in Sai Ying Pun or fund apprenticeships in Cantonese opera and letterpress. There could even be another Hong Kong-Shanghai cultural corridor – to give the next generation tools to see. Business once sculpted Hong Kong. It can set the city's cultural pulse racing again. Bring back the neon. Bring back the stories. Bring back the belief that living beautifully is still possible – not for old times' sake, but for a future that remembers how to see.
