Canada wants Chinese State-run entities such as China Investment Corp (CIC) to consider North American listings as a way of facilitating investment into the energy-rich country, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said.

Flaherty said he will assure Chinese authorities that their investment is welcome, as long as it's done on a "commercial basis". Listing publicly or acquiring stakes in already traded companies is the simplest route, though not the only one, he said.

"Generally speaking, we would like to see large investments governed by the public-trading rules," Flaherty, 59, said ahead of a visit to Beijing and Shanghai this week.