Langley City is one of the nation’s smaller cities but is the first Canadian municipality to invest in a term deposit with the Bank of China (Canada).
Mayor Ted Schaffer said the City has invested $100,000, small enough to be insured by the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation but intended to get the City more attention in international circles and investors.
“Being a small city you have to work just that much harder to get investment here,” he said.
The City, which is four square miles in size and home to about 25,000 people, made connections during a Union of British Columbia Municipalities Convention (UBCM) reception in 2015.
The City met representatives of the bank and other ventures. Schaffer said this was about the time the TD Bank announced it was leaving the City and he asked if the Bank of China was interested in setting up a branch. It has a handful of branches in Canada.
Following the UBCM conference, Mayor Ted Schaffer invited the Consul General and representatives from the Bank of China to meet local entrepreneurs.
“We’re small but we’re very aggressive,” Schaffer told the visitors.
Schaffer explained that being an investor means the City is included on the Bank of China’s promotional materials alongside the big multi-million dollar players.
“It gives us international exposure,” he said.
The modest investment is one of the ways the City is working to attract investment and attention. Schaffer said the province and federal government do trade trips to places such as China.
“We don’t have those types of resources but how do we get our name out,” he said.
A couple of international investors started business deals in the community.
The Bank of China (Canada) has been operating in Canada for more than 20 years with its parent company serving users all over the world for over 100 years. It has more than 300,000 employees, and 650 branches and offices outside of China with footprints in 42 countries.