By 
YANTAI, China — Canada and China moved to deepen energy trade ties at a major industry forum in eastern China, as Canadian crude oil, LNG and LPG exports to China continued to rise sharply.
The 20th China LNG Conference and the 7th Canada-China Natural Gas and Energy Full Value Chain Forum took place from June 24 to 25 in Yantai, Shandong Province, bringing together government officials, energy companies, financial institutions and industry advisers from both countries.
The forum focused on global LNG market trends, energy supply-chain cooperation, investment conditions and the role of Canadian energy exports in China’s broader effort to diversify supply sources.
China Construction Bank (CCB) Toronto Branch, the only financial institution to have helped organize the forum for three consecutive years, co-organized this year’s event with Natural Resources Canada and the governments of Alberta and British Columbia, in cooperation with the Embassy of Canada in China.
During the event, Lindsay Margenau, Canada’s Commercial Counsellor in China, and Jianjun Bao, Vice President of China Construction Bank Shandong Branch, co-chaired a closed-door roundtable attended by government and business representatives from both countries. Participants discussed potential cooperation in energy trade, financing and supply-chain development, with several preliminary commercial intentions reached, according to organizers.
The forum came as Canadian energy shipments to China expanded rapidly. In 2025, China’s imports of Canadian crude oil exceeded 16 million metric tons, valued at more than C$10 billion, up 178 percent from a year earlier. In the second half of the year, China imported C$360 million worth of Canadian LNG and C$1.37 billion worth of Canadian LPG.
The forum was seen as an industry-level follow-up to a joint statement issued during the Canadian Prime Minister’s visit to China in January, when the two countries agreed to strengthen oil and gas cooperation and establish a ministerial-level energy dialogue.
Over the two-day program, officials from Natural Resources Canada, executives from Canadian energy companies and experts from leading global consulting firms discussed a range of issues shaping the energy sector. Topics included global LNG market trends, the current state of Canada’s LNG, LPG and crude oil value chains, the impact of geopolitical shifts on supply and demand, and evolving investment, trade and tax regulations.
The discussions presented Chinese partners and investors with a broader picture of cooperation opportunities across Canada’s energy value chain, from upstream resources to downstream petrochemical industries.
Financial support for energy trade was also a key focus. CCB Toronto Branch worked with CCB branches in Shandong, Zhejiang and Anhui to invite a number of major Chinese corporate clients to the forum and facilitate targeted exchanges with Canadian energy partners.
The bank said its cross-border settlement, project financing, trade finance and foreign-exchange risk management services could help reduce transaction risks and support bilateral energy cooperation.
