Delegates on a trade mission from British Columbia watch how the Longhua Wooden Products Co Ltd uses high-quality BC wood at a factory in Dalian, China. provided to China Daily

British Columbia is always looking for ways to expand its lumber exports, particularly to such a large markets as Asia.

The annual British Columbia Forestry Asia Trade Mission to China and Japan went from Nov 27 through Dec 5. The trip was led by Steve Thomson, minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations. The delegation included more than 30 senior executives from forest companies and associations across British Columbia.

This trade mission was Thomson's fourth to China and Japan as forests minister since Premier Christy Clark tasked him with annual forestry trade missions to Asia.

In 2014, BC's forest industry supported more than 146,000 direct and indirect jobs across the province, and forest products accounted for 36 percent of all exports.

The forest sector currently represents $12 billion of the province's GDP.

"Japan and China are our second- and third-most important markets, so annually we go to make sure that we can continue to help build markets for our industry in those very important areas," Thomson said. "Trade missions are critical to the provincial strategy to secure new investment."

Canada Starts Here: The BC Jobs Plan, which seeks to manage economic uncertainty, called "expanding markets for BC products and services, particularly in Asia" a fundamental pillar of the economy.

In the words of Susan Yurkovich, president and CEO of the Council of Forest Industries, "[international] trade missions are vital for creating and maintaining strong bonds between the BC forest industry and our partners in overseas markets".

"These trade missions allow us to tell our story directly to our customers, reminding them that when they buy BC wood, they're not only getting the highest-quality products in the world, but they also know that those products come from sustainably managed forests," she said.

In 2014, China received 25 percent of BC's softwood lumber exports, totaling $1.43 billion, making China BC's second-largest market for softwood lumber products. Japan is the third-largest market with 13 percent, or $731 million.

The expansion and development of Asian markets for BC lumber is a large part of the forest sector's recovery from the worldwide recession in 2010. Jobs increased 7 percent, and exports were up 20 percent.

"[The United States] is our largest market but ... one of the very important approaches ... for the forest industry in British Columbia is to build a diversified market so we have lots of opportunities," Thomson said.