Former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien marked Canada's growing economic ties with China yesterday with the opening of a Canadian-owned medical diagnostics company in Shanghai.

　　Shanghai CP Adaltis Diagnostics Co will manufacture instruments and reagents used to diagnose infectious diseases such as AIDS and SARS.

　　"It's a very good example of the link that exists between China and Canada," Chretien said at a ribbon cutting ceremony in Zhangjiang, a high-tech zone in Shanghai. "This collaboration between Canada and China in this new area is very, very important."

　　Since leaving office 11 months ago, Chretien has visited China at least twice, tending business ties cultivated over his long career. He is visiting China at the invitation of CITIC Group, a major investment company and parent of Hong Kong-listed financial conglomerate CITIC Pacific Ltd.

　　Shanghai Adaltis is a joint venture between Montreal-based international biotech company Adaltis Inc and CITIC Pacific. The Canadian company filed plans last month for a stock listing in Toronto.

　　China faces a growing need for advanced medical diagnostics equipment, such as HIV test kits, as the number of people exposed to the virus that causes AIDS grows. The SARS outbreak in spring 2002, which hit both China and Canada, has prompted further interest in such technologies.

　　The two countries announced plans to cooperate in fighting such diseases following the outbreak, which killed 44 people in Toronto and 349 in the Chinese mainland in 2002 and 2003. An outbreak in April in Beijing and Anhui Province killed one woman and sickened eight others.

　　Adaltis has announced success in clinical tests of a technology able to identify SARS antibodies within two hours, using standard lab equipment.

　　In 2003, under Chretien's tenure, Canada and China agreed to double bilateral trade by 2010.

　　(The Associated Press)