Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday agreed to explore a possible trade agreement between China and Canada.
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In a statement, China’s embassy in Ottawa said “we expect the two sides can reach more consensus in the areas of political contacts, trade and economic cooperation”.
The two countries disagree about what level of “dockage” – foreign material such as weeds, other crops and detritus – should be considered acceptable in Canada’s canola exports to China.
China founded the US$100-billion Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank late previous year to provide other countries in the region access to capital for investments in projects in areas such as transportation, power and telecommunications.
Trudeau yesterday hailed a new era in relations with China during his first official visit to a key trading partner, saying he aims to boost “stability and regularity” in their ties.
Even so, uncertainty remains about how long China will delay imposing its tougher standard, said PI Financial broker Ken Ball, who trades canola futures in Winnipeg.
Trudeau’s itinerary is packed with business-related meetings.as well as the G-20 leaders’ summit.
She said she knows how important oilseed is because she grew up on a canola farm, where her father is preparing for this year’s harvest.
Wednesday morning Prime Minister Trudeau announced China has granted an extension to the September1 deadline originally announced earlier this year.
During a news conference Tuesday in Ottawa, a coalition of advocacy groups including Amnesty International urged Trudeau not to squander the chance to encourage China to take meaningful steps on human rights.
“As we carefully consider joining the (bank), we look at the impact these investments would have on global economic growth and the potential for Canadian companies to explore new commercial opportunities”. Harper began as a vocal critic of Beijing’s human rights record, promising not to sell out Canadian values for “the almighty dollar”.
The 2014 detention on espionage charges of Canadian citizen Kevin Garratt, who had run a Christian-themed coffee shop near the North Korean border, has also raised tensions.
Trudeau himself has indicated in the past that there’s no evidence to support the accusations against Garratt. It’s a fair criticism, but the Liberals will have to proceed with extreme caution as they try to find the middle road in dealing with the Middle Kingdom. But we still sell mostly wood, oil seeds, fish and grain to China.
“We didn’t pick and choose”, he said.
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The four projects approved earlier this year addressed numerous concerns western countries had about the new bank, he said, including that China would use it to advance its own strategic and commercial interests.
