Lumber row turns attention to China

VANCOUVER, Canada - A row that erupted this week between Canada and the United States over softwood lumber exports proves that Canada must expand its trade to China and other Asian markets, officials said.

Canada's government and the lumber industry must quickly diversify their export markets to reduce reliance on the US, Premier of Canada's British Columbia province Christy Clark said.

"We have already increased our softwood lumber exports to China by over 2,000 percent with strong progress in other markets," she said.