“Renewing our relationship with China is extremely important to Canada”, Trudeau said at a joint news conference after his meeting with Li.
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China founded the US$100-billion Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank late past year to provide other countries in the region access to capital for investments in projects in areas such as transportation, power and telecommunications.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hailed ties between Canada and China on Wednesday in Beijing, where he’s on the first leg of a 10-day trip created to “reset the relationship a little bit” after months of tension following his surprise election win in November.
Trudeau and Li also announced an agreement to extend a September 1 deadline that China had imposed on Canada to tighten its screening of canola exports, which had threatened to lead to major losses for Canadian farmers.
“For these cases, the departments of both sides will continue to remain in touch and we believe it’s essential for our two countries to remove disturbances and work together to uphold the other interests of China-Canada relations”.
“It’s a big deal for Canada and the Canadian government understands that”, said Freeland, who said she knows of what she speaks: she grew up on a canola farm in northern Alberta, where her father is preparing for this year’s harvest.
Visiting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in Beijing on Tuesday that he was “ready to keep and strengthen the strong friendship” between Canada and China. Trudeau said Canada and China were working “very closely toward a long-term solution in the coming days and weeks ahead”.
This is the first official visit of Trudeau since taking office in November 2015.
Those cases include Kevin Garratt, a Canadian imprisoned for more than two years in China on espionage charges.
Trudeau said the two leaders wanted to expand trade and investment in areas including energy, clean technology and agriculture, and to increase tourism and cultural cooperation.
Mr Li said that Garratt would be treated humanely and his case would be handled in accordance with the law.
The family “implores the Canadian and Chinese leadership to set aside their differences and reach a resolution to allow Kevin to exit China and obtain critically needed medical treatment and to return to his family”, they said.
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Trudeau made the announcement about the extension in Beijing, where the canola dispute was expected to dominate the trade agenda during his high-level meetings and the G20, which gets underway later this week.
