Vancouver, BC - The BC Progress Board released its 2005 Interim Benchmarking Report today, reporting recent progress on indicators relevant to the province's economy, innovation, education, environment, health and social condition. This year's interim report also includes a companion volume on "BC Trade and Emerging Asian Opportunities".

British Columbia's rate of economic growth (real GDP) per capita climbed to 2nd place in Canada in 2004, from 5th place in 2003. After-tax income levels per capita remained unchanged in 3rd place in 2004, while the Board's jobs measure - the employment rate (ages 15-64) - improved to 5th place in Canada, up from 6th place in 2003 and 7th in 2002. BC continues to rank 1st in the country on the Progress Board's environmental quality index (1999-2003), 1st for life expectancy at birth, and 10th for low income incidence based on Statistics Canada's low income cut-offs measure. In its annual report for 2001, the Progress Board established a goal for the province to be 1st or 2nd on each of these core targets by 2010.

The Interim Report also contains preliminary evidence of an economic 'renaissance' outside of the large metropolitan areas (the Greater Vancouver, Capital, and Fraser Valley Regional Districts). During 2004, annual growth rates for population, employment, housing starts and business incorporations in Regional BC as a whole outpaced those in the large metropolitan areas.

"BC moved ahead of the national average in economic growth per capita in 2004 for the third straight year", stated David Black, Chair of the Progress Board and President of Victoria-based Black Press Ltd. "This is good news for the province as a whole, and the evidence that regions outside of the major metropolitan areas are also improving is very encouraging", Black continued.

The Progress Board's Interim Report also includes a supplemental special focus report examining BC Trade and Emerging Asian Opportunities, especially with fast-growing China. Among the findings:

• Imports from China make up 18.6 percent of BC's total, up from 4.9 percent in 1994;


• China has emerged as BC's strongest growth market, with exports increasing by over three times their 1995 value of $501 million to $1.7 billion in 2004;


• BC's principal exports to China are pulp, paper and ethylene glycol, with strong growth in semiconductor and other electronic component manufacturing, and navigational, measuring, medical & control instruments;


• Energy exports - oil, gas and coal - are a large opportunity moving forward for Canada generally, and BC and Alberta in particular, given China's rapidly emerging middle class, expanding transportation network, and steadily growing manufacturing sector;


• As the destination for only 4.0 percent of BC's wood products, China presents an enormous untapped market, but success for BC lumber producers will require extensive marketing efforts; and,


• Education, tourism, and host of other services also present BC with export opportunities to China.

"BC is well positioned to take advantage of export opportunities offered by rapidly growing markets in China", noted Tim McEwan, Executive Director of the Progress Board. "Making the most these opportunities will require efforts to ensure that BC's general economic foundations remain strong, along with a continued focus on improving transportation, education and other critical infrastructure", McEwan concluded.

The BC Progress Board, established by Premier Gordon Campbell in July 2001, is an independent Panel of 18 senior business and academic leaders. The Board's mandate is to competitively benchmark BC's progress relative to other jurisdictions and to provide the government with advice on ways to improve provincial performance.