Accompanied by a young Chinese journalist, over nearly a dozen trips, Trudeau travelled to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chongqing and many places in between, speaking with people from all walks of life: migrant workers, constitutional lawyers, business people, artists, farmers.
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Former Quebec premier Jean Charest, who was in attendance, told reporters that he’s “stunned” by how quickly Canada and China are taking steps to improve relations.
The Chinese premier told the audience “let’s move towards the days when Canada-China relations were much better than with many other western countries”.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Li announced Thursday an agreement to begin talks aimed at reaching a free-trade agreement.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is calling for a new golden decade of Canada-China relations. It’s Li Keqiang’s first full day of business after arriving on Wednesday.
Li also said that while the death penalty was needed in China, Chinese law provides for the humanitarian treatment of accused persons.
“We have chose to strengthen exchanges at all levels and through multiple mechanisms”. “We have agreed to establish high-level financial dialogue mechanism, and annual meeting mechanism between the two foreign ministers”, Li added.
For Alexandre Trudeau, a deep interest in China was nearly preordained. He is looking forward to bringing more opportunities for Canadians through relations with China.
Before the joint press conference, the two leaders attended a signing ceremony for 14 bilateral cooperation documents.
China is Canada’s second-largest trading partner after the United States, with trade a year ago exceeding Can$85 billion ($64.5 billion USD).
Liberals revealed that former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper’s office paid out nearly $325,000 in relocation expenses for 29 staffers – including a single move for one individual that came in at just over $93,000.
Alan Gorman, CEO of Montreal-based Oceanic Iron Ore Corp., said that although human rights in China should be a concern to Canadians, he believes the influence should be through partnerships, not through imposing conditions.
“What’s obvious to all of us, as we see the American campaign unfold, is that China is an issue”, Charest said.
“Among the 14 bilateral cooperation documents, the agreement on the sharing and return of forfeited assets is remarkably significant at this time, when Sino-Canadian trade has always been the major area of cooperation in bilateral ties”, Tang Xiaosong, director of the Center for Canadian Studies at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, told the Global Times.
“This last month of strong collaborative engagement represents a new era in the China-Canada relationship”, the Canadian premier said.
Chretien said the two sides should strengthen cooperation in nuclear energy, infrastructure construction, clean energy, finance and other fields.
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Mr Li also met Canadian Governor-General David Johnston at Rideau Hall, the governor-general’s official residence, on Thursday.
