Canada's new International Trade Minister Ed Fast on Wednesday called for improved Canada-China trade ties at a roundtable meeting with Chinese-Canadian business leaders.

Addressing the meeting on bilateral trade, held in the Chinese Cultural Centre in Vancouver's Chinatown, Fast said Canada-China merchandise trade topped 57.7 billion Canadian dollars (about 60 billion U.S. dollars) last year, triple that of a decade ago.

The official, who also serves as minister of the Asia-Pacific Gateway, said the number could be much higher, with "tremendous potential that China presents Canada and vice versa."

Fast, a lawyer from Abbotsford, British Columbia, a farming community outside of Vancouver, was appointed to the two key portfolios in May after the ruling Conservatives swept to a landslide victory in the federal election.

"We are committed to building more commercial ties across the Pacific, whether it's through our Asia Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative or through enhanced bilateral trade with economic powerhouses like China," he said.

The Asia Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative, launched in 2006 to upgrade and expand the network of road, rail, air and port infrastructure, is a federal government package of investment and policy measures focusing on trade with Asia-Pacific Region.

Canadian exports to China increased 18.7 percent year on year to an equivalent of 13.8 billion U.S. dollars last year, while Canadian imports from China stood at about 46.4 billion dollars, up 12.2 percent. Overall, China was Canada's second largest merchandise trading partner, but still lagged well behind the United States.

Chinese exports to Canada included electrical and electronic equipment, machinery, toys and sporting equipment, while Canada's biggest exports to China were minerals, fossil fuels, wood pulp, fats and oil, and oilseeds.

Fast said trade had been to his country's long-term prosperity and praised the government's strategy to expand the trade relationship.

He said trade contributed 60 percent to Canada's gross domestic product and about one in five Canadian jobs.

Under the Gateway and Corridor Initiative, 47 infrastructure projects have been started in the country's four western provinces, involving more than 1.5 billion U.S. dollars in federal financing.

"These projects are removing bottlenecks and improving connections between transportation modes. In other words, if we as Canadians want to export goods and import goods on a competitive basis, we have to have the transportation infrastructure in place to do that efficiently and effectively," Fast said.

The ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert, both in the province of British Columbia, are the shortest sea routes between North America and China.

Fast, who plans to make his first visit to China as early as this fall, said the Chinese-Canadian business community's involvement in the process of engaging with China and the rest of the Asia Pacific was "absolutely critical" for trade to grow.