2013 has been an extraordinary year marked by significant achievements under the Provincial Housing Strategy.

B.C. remains on target to balance the 2013-14 Budget with a projected year-end surplus of $165 million, up by $29 million since the First Quarterly Report.

The first weekend of Premier Christy Clark's 2013 Jobs and Trade Mission was highlighted by a new natural gas venture establishing a Vancouver head office and Bluestar International Business signing an $80-million forestry deal that will see B.C. lumber used for infrastructure projects in China.

B.C. wood was in the spotlight today at the Sanlin Shanghai Affordable Housing Project, as Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Steve Thomson and forestry trade mission delegates toured two wood-frame buildings and signed a new memorandum of understanding.

In an important step toward a stronger working relationship between B.C. and China's Zhejiang province, both governments signed an agreement encouraging greater co-operation in wood-frame construction.

Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Minister Steve Thomson and delegates on the 2013 Forestry Asia Trade Mission had an action-packed first day in Japan.