China is Canada’s second-largest trading partner.
Advertisement
Justin Trudeau says China should strengthen its connection to Canada as a way for the rapidly growing superpower to burnish its image on the world stage.
China has said it would introduce a new safety limit on foreign matter in Canadian canola imports of 1 percent from the current 2.5 percent.
Trudeau made the remarks in a brief meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing.
China and Canada agreed on Wednesday that Canada’s canola shipments will be exempt from tougher import standards due to take effect on September 1 while the two sides work towards a permanent solution on canola sales. Freeland added that Canada hopes to achieve this in the coming days and weeks.
Luo said China buys 87 per cent of its canola from Canada because of its good quality and production.
China says the standard is necessary to prevent the spread of blackleg disease from Canadian canola into Chinese crops of rapeseed, another name for the agricultural commodity.
Ottawa is pressing the case of Canadian citizen Kevin Garratt, who was indicted on charges of spying and stealing state secrets earlier this year.
Kevin and Julia Dawn Garratt, shown here flanked by their son Peter and daughter Hannah, were detained in August 2014 near the border with North Korea.
Premier Li Keqiang meets Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the Forbidden City in Beijing, Aug 30, 2016. Julia Garratt was released on bail on February 5, 2015.
Garratt’s family said on Wednesday they were “extremely frustrated and disappointed” with the lack on progress in freeing him.
Advertisement
In applying for membership in the China-led development lender, Canada will become the first country in North America to join, Finance Minister Bill Morneau said Wednesday after a meeting with AIIB President Jin Liqun in Beijing.
