Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne is in China as part of an international mission to boost trade of the Canadian province that she leads with the Asian giant. Even if homosexuality was banned in China until 1997, Wynne - the first openly gay premier in Canada - said she expects no awkwardness.

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She would be the second lesbian political leader to visit the country, following the April 2013 trip of Icelandic Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir who came with her partner, reports The Toronto Star.

Wynne said that Jane Rounthwaite, her partner, has work and could not join her in China where she expects to receive the same treatment with respect that she gets in Canada.

"It will be a very interesting trip for me on many levels and I expect that we will have very fruitful conversations. I don't think the issue of gender will hobble any of those discussions," the premier said.

With Wynne on the weekend trip to China are her counterparts from Quebec and Prince Edward Island. The group left on Saturday with 60 delegates from Ontario who represent business and science and clean technologies industries.

On Wednesday, she will meet Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard and Prince Edward Island Premier Robert Ghiz in Beijing and the trio will seek to increase their respective provinces' commerce with China, the second-largest trading partner of Canada, reports Newstalk.

Besides entering into practical agreements, Wynne said she expects some tangible results from her China trip, noting the importance of government-to-government contacts in bilateral trade talks.

Among the Ontario companies that have joined Wynne in the trade mission is ChipCare Corp., which makes a $2,500 handheld blood test device that provides "instant" diagnoses of ailment. The mobile lab is no bigger than a Kleenex box but offers the potential "to save and improve the lives of millions of people around the world" by making available the state-of-the-art medical equipment to patients in far-flung rural areas, said James Fraser, chief executive of ChipCare Corp.

Fraser said his company, which plans to produce the kit in Ontario and export it to China, would develop multiple test kits for sexually transmitted diseases, concussions and cardiac enzyme once the platform is established.

Wynne said she wants to top the $800 million worth of contracts that her predecessor, Dalton McGuinty, brought home from his 2010 China trip. Wynne, who said it is her first trip to Asia, added she consulted McGuinty for the trade mission.

The premier said she also wants to head more trade missions to Israel, India, Pakistan and South America to boost Ontario's international trade, one of the Canadian province's strategies to boost its economy.

Tagskathleen wynne, Canada-China trade