On Friday a trade delegation with the mayor and 11 Ottawa companies returns from 10 days in China. City officials are touting a series of wins ... that have been a long time coming.

Consider that Ottawa and Beijing were first twinned 11 years ago. It seems we are just now seeing the payback. Both mayors signed a new agreement pledging "both parties intend to promote ... economic exchange and cooperation."

Next week a group of Chinese artisans will come to Ottawa to help build an ornate archway on Somerset St. in Ottawa¹s Chinatown.

It will be a showcase for such art in North America. Plasco signed what seems to be a deal to sell one of its waste-to-electricity plants to Beijing. Mike Darch of the Ottawa economic agency says this is his eighth China trip in just over three years and he believes the work is finally paying off.

He notes five Beijing agencies have committed to visiting Ottawa this year.

Mayor Larry O'Brien said one of his goals was to ask Huawei, the $30-billion Chinese telecom firm, to expand in Ottawa. In 20 years Huawei has become the world's second largest telecom firm. They have about 80 staff in Ottawa and one of their most senior researchers is Peter Ashwood-Smith.

Ashwood-Smith is not your average manager. He was one of just nine people in all of Nortel called "a fellow". These "fellows" were recognized as the brightest thinkers inside Nortel. Ashwood-Smith joined Huawei within weeks of Nortel filing for bankruptcy protection.

For most of last year I tried to get Huawei to talk to me about Ottawa plans. The company ignored the requests and finally refused to talk and would not allow Ashwood-Smith to talk.

On his LinkedIn page, Ashwood-Smith encourages researchers to come to Huawei, saying, "We have tremendous resources to bring to bear for the right ideas."

As for China's human rights abuses, Mayor Larry O'Brien says it's not his job to tackle that issue and a spokesperson for Claude Haw, the head of OCRI says the subject does not appear on his agenda.

Next week marks one year since I began writing this column, offering you my weekly take on tech. I'd like to hear from you on subjects you'd like to see me tackle. E-mail suggestions and comments to paul.brent@ctv.ca

This Sunday on TECH NOW; putting cameras on police officers as they carry out patrol work.