PROVINCE TO ASSIST CHINA WITH EARTHQUAKE REBUILDING

VICTORIA – The Province is recruiting a team of architects and construction managers to send to China to help reconstruct areas in Wenchuan province devastated by a major earthquake earlier this year, Forests and Range Minister Pat Bell and Minister responsible for the Asia-Pacific Initiative Ida Chong announced today.

“Our expertise in building energy-efficient, earthquake-resistant wood-frame structures is the best in the world,” Bell said. “These professionals will apply Canada’s high-quality standards to projects and show how wood-frame building designs and products from British Columbia can be used in China.”

The recruitment campaign will begin with ads appearing on the weekend. The team will support the $8-million Wenchuan Earthquake Reconstruction Project announced in June. The earthquake in May, with a magnitude of 8.0, killed or injured more than 450,000 people and left another 4.8 million people homeless.

In partnership with Chinese agencies, the project is building new schools, senior citizen homes, and other public facilities. All will be earthquake-resistant based on Canadian engineering and British Columbian wood products that are considered world-leading in seismic performance and energy efficiency. Reconstruction project details can be viewed at: http://k.nuko.cn/linchuang/

“We’re looking for architects, project managers and construction managers interested in working in China and promoting the expertise of our forest and construction sectors,” said Bell.

Initially, the team will work on three projects: a new primary school in Dujiangyan, a seniors’ centre in Beichuan County, and the Mianyang Rehabilitation Centre and School for Disabled. Other projects will follow based on discussions with Chinese officials.

British Columbia, in partnership with industry associations and the federal government, has been promoting wood product sales in China since opening a demonstration centre in Shanghai in 2005. Wood exports to China more than doubled in 2007 over the previous year. This rapid growth continued in the first six months of 2008 with sales of 581,000 cubic metres of softwood lumber, compared to sales of 356,000 cubic metres in the first half of 2007. At this pace, British Columbia could sell almost one billion board feet of lumber to China this year.

Forestry Innovation Investment, the provincial agency that is managing the Province’s involvement in the project, is administering the recruitment process. Professionals and trades personnel interested in the positions can get more details through career ads appearing in major dailies, at the FII website, www.bcfii.ca, or at BC Bid, www.bcbid.gov.bc.ca. The application deadline is Oct. 7, 2008.

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Media contact:	Sophia Proctor Public Affairs Officer Ministry of Forests and Range 250 387-4592

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