Li and Trudeau announced in Ottawa Thursday that the two countries were beginning exploratory free-trade talks, saying they aim to double trade by 2025 and had resolved longstanding issues of access for Canadian beef and canola to China, while several companies signed commercial deals.
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According to the official media in this capital, Li said today in Montreal that his Government is willing to start talks for a free trade agreement (FTA) with Canada and stated that a bilateral agreement of this kind would benefit both sides.
Former Quebec premier Jean Charest said he interprets this sudden warming between the two countries as a result of the upcoming USA presidential elections with both Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump talking tough on trade with China.
“We are going to continue to have frank, honest discussions about the things that matter to our people and to the worldwide community at large”, Trudeau said.
In keeping with this objective, the Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, met with the Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, Li Keqiang, during his first official visit to Canada September 21 to 24, 2016. It launches the annual dialogue mechanism between the two prime ministers.
“These back-to-back visits in less than a month show that China-Canada relations are moving to a new stage”, Mr Li told reporters.
“This last month of strong collaborative engagement represents a new era in the China-Canada relationship”, the Canadian premier said. “We need to always bear in mind the larger picture of our relations and we need to recognize that our common interests far outweigh our differences'”. A joint news conference of the two leaders focused on Premier Li’s strict reply to Canadian critics of an extradition treaty.
Mr Johnston spoke highly of the new progress made in bilateral cooperation during Mr Li’s visit.
The decision reflected “China’s commitment to, and China’s goodwill to, farmers and producers in Canada”, Li said.
Rona Ambrose, interim party leader have said to the House of Commons that we are supporting to China to accept our values for human rights.
A request by China for an extradition treaty with Canada, which Trudeau has agreed to consider, has ruffled opposition parties in Ottawa, however.
Talk of a possible extradition treaty comes days after Kevin Garratt, a Canadian held in China for two years and charged with spying, was deported to Canada.
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China will open up wider to the world and foster friendly and transparent policies to attract foreign investment, Li said, encouraging more Canadian investors to seize the opportunity to deepen cooperation with China to achieve win-win results.
