Deron Bilous, Alberta's minister of economic development and trade, said the Canadian province attaches great importance to Guangdong's market.

"Alberta is particularly expecting to expand cooperation with Guangdong in the industries of energy, clean energy, environment, aviation, culture, and education," Bilous told the Alberta-Guangdong Trade and Investment Conference in Guangzhou on Monday.

Ma Hua, deputy director general of Guangdong provincial department of commerce, said Guangdong has already established close economic relations with Canada and is expecting to further advance its cooperation with Alberta, in particular.

"The cooperation with Alberta is of mutual benefit," he said.

Bilous' visit, which began on Sunday, is his second official sojourn to Guangdong within the past six months.

His participation, with an Alberta business delegation, at the China (Guangdong)-Canada Economic and Trade Cooperation Conference held by the Guangdong government in Vancouver in May resulted in the signing of memorandum of understanding between Guangdong and Alberta on economic and trade cooperation.

Shen Haixiong, a standing committee member of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee and head of Guangdong's publicity department, traveled to Alberta in September and met with Bilous, reaching a consensus on developing closer cultural ties and exploring opportunities for future collaboration in the culture, tourism and media sectors.

The Canadian official and his delegation are scheduled to visit Shenzhen Special Economic Zone on Tuesday before traveling to Shanghai and Yantai in Shandong province later in the week.