BEIJING, Nov. 1  -- Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Canada's Ontario province, has encouraged Chinese businesses to make investment in the province, saying "the overall environment is very welcome."

Ontario is trying to provide a streamline of access to companies that intend to invest in the province, said Wynne, who was on her first trade mission as premier to China since she was elected to the post in June this year.

"Canada and China have a long relationship, so I made the point that China is my first mission outside the province as premier," she said in an interview with Xinhua on Friday.

During the visit which ran from Oct. 25 through Nov. 1, the Canadian provincial delegation headed by Wynne has met with Chinese companies that were already in Ontario to facilitate their expansion as well as new companies that wanted to know more about Ontario.

Wynne said a number of agreements have been signed during the visit, ranging from technology, health care to education, which will surely create more jobs in Ontario and economic growth that the province is seeking.

Ontario signed a friendship agreement with the Chinese province of Jiangsu on being sister provinces of each other in 1985, she said.

The Canadian provincial chief also mentioned a growing connection between China and Canada, noting that more than 700,000 people of Chinese origin are living in Ontario and more than 23,000 Chinese students studying in the province.

While talking about Ontario's specific advantages, Wynne said Ontario is already a financial service hub for the country and important for the north American context.

Chinese firms such as China's telecom giant Huawei, the Bank of China, and the China Longyuan Power Group Corporation Ltd. have made investment in Ontario.

"I think the overall reason why a company should come to Ontario is that we have very competitive taxes, 13 percent lower effective tax rate than other American jurisdictions," Wynne said.

"We have so much expertise in energy and technology field that educated workforce is a huge advantage. We are committed to invest in the infrastructure. We know what they need, not just financial but also physical," the premier said.

Canada is an immigration country and over half of the immigrants have chosen Ontario to settle down.

"We have a provincial nominee program that allows Ontario to select particular immigrants who are going to be able to fit in and to thrive in the province... over 90 percent of the immigrants coming to the provincial nominee program actually stayed in Ontario," Wynne said.

"When people come to Ontario, it is the responsibility of the provincial government to provide settlement services, to provide language training services, to provide any educational upgrading that is needed, or to facilitate those credential process," she added.