The treaty, inked after 18 years of negotiations, contains the widest range of investment agreements China has ever signed with any country, the ministry said, without giving details.

"It will have a positive impact in promoting mutual investment by companies from our two countries and deepening trade cooperation between China and Canada," it added in a statement on its website, www.mofcom.gov.cn.

Cash-rich Chinese companies are showing rising interest in Canadian oil and gas resources, and Ottawa is currently reviewing a $15.1 billion takeover bid for Canadian oil company Nexen Inc by China's state-owned CNOOC Ltd.

The investment pact was signed by the two countries' trade ministers on the sidelines of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in Vladivostok, Russia.

During APEC, China also signed a deal with Chile to complete the establishment of a free trade area between the two nations, the ministry said in a separate statement.

(Reporting by China Economics Team; Editing by Nick Edwards)

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