China hopes Trudeau’s visit can bring fresh impetus to ties, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Monday at a daily briefing.
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He’ll also attend the G20 leaders’ summit in Hangzhou.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is heading for his first official visit to China, seeking to reset relations and boost economic ties with Canada’s second-largest trading partner.
But others, including opposition MPs, suggest a more gradual approach on what would likely be a complex agreement, particluarly with concerns over human rights in China and the country’s recent geopolitcal actions like the dispute over islands in the South China Sea.
Canada, Trudeau added, can help China when it comes to governance and rule-of-law issues as well as global fears about the “tremendous appetite” of Chinese entrepreneurs and companies as they seek out foreign investments and partnerships.
Canada’s biggest canola exporters, Richardson International and Glencore Plc-owned Viterra Inc, however, are balking at China’s new standard.
“Within a very short time the two countries (will) exchange high-level visits – that’s quite unusual and it really shows. we attach great importance for these bilateral relations”.
But there is no near-term chance of agreement, a senior Canadian government official told reporters last week. China has also expressed interest in forging a free trade deal with Canada.
“Any economic strategy that ignores China or treat that valuable relationship as anything less than critical and important is not just short-sighted, it is irresponsible”, Trudeau said.
All the while, he will have to navigate several ongoing irritants. The son of Kevin Garratt, a Canadian detained in China on spying allegations, appealed to the prime minister to raise his father’s case.
Last month, Canada also weighed in on the South China Sea dispute by delivering a thinly veiled call to China to abide by an global ruling that has angered Beijing.
Meanwhile, Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr will share his thoughts on the future of the industry when he takes the stage to deliver a keynote address at Energy Policy and the Economy for Tomorrow, a one-day event co-hosted by the Calgary Chamber of Commerce and the Pearson Centre for Progressive Policy at which his cabinet colleague, Environment Minister Catherine McKenna, is also scheduled to make an appearance.
Conservative trade critic Gerry Ritz, who served as agriculture minister under former prime minister Stephen Harper, expressed misgivings about the Liberal government’s ability to resolve the dispute, given that Canada’s softwood lumber deal with the US remains unrenewed.
That study assessed potential benefits of deepening the two countries’ bilateral trade and economic relationship.
Mark Henry Rowswell and former Tory cabinet minister Stockwell Day walk into the Canada Pavilion at World Expo site on May 16, 2010 in Shanghai, China.
Ontario has more than 30 Chinese-language news outlets, mostly free newspapers, and the majority of them appear to avoid reporting that would anger China’s leaders.
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Trudeau says the whole point of Canada engaging with the world is to create opportunities for Canadians and improve the lives of people all over the globe.
