Chinese Premier Li Keqiang saw Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in China just last month.
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Li on Thursday also met with Canada’s Senate Speaker George Furey, Speaker of the House of Commons Geoff Regan and the General Governor David Johnston.
According to a poll carried out by the EKOS Research Associates in August, a growing number of Canadians would back a free trade deal with China.
Much was already accomplished during Trudeau’s recent eight-day visit to China and attendance at the G20 summit in Hangzhou, it added.
Canada and China will hold “exploratory talks” to gauge the possibility of starting free-trade negotiations, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.
Trudeau made the remarks in a news conference with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Ottawa.
Chinese and Canadian firms have already signed deals worth more than a billion United States dollars earlier this month at the G20 in Hangzhou, covering everything from seafood to clean technology.
“Our progress on this file goes to show how two countries willing to collaborate can solve hard challenges together”, Trudeau told a joint news conference.
Li, meanwhile, praised a reboot of Sino-Canadian relations after a decade of cooling, which had been kicked off during Trudeau’s visit to China at the end of August.
“We know that there is a huge amount of untapped potential in our commercial relationship”, Trudeau noted.
Canada and China settled a dispute over canola seed that previously threatened to halt exports from the world’s top grower.
“Imagine you’re a mom who’s lost your job and facing a mortgage payment without any idea how you’ll come up with the money – now imagine that same mom waking up this morning to find out the prime minister gave $200,000 to his friends to move from Toronto to Ottawa to work in his office”.
Both leaders also addressed the rockier issues with the relationship, including China’s human rights record – it is one of a few countries that employs the death penalty – and domestic opposition to a proposed extradition treaty. Beijing and Washington have no extradition treaty. China has signed extradition treaty with more than 40 countries, including some developed countries in Europe.
Li first told reporters during last month during the prime minister’s own visit to China that the two countries had embarked on a feasibility study of a free trade deal.
He said they are pleased to start dialogue in a consistent and responsible way.
“If we abolish the death penalty more innocent people will probably lose their lives”, Li said.
China, which has said it was concerned about the foreign material spreading a crop disease called blackleg, had meant to change its standard on September 1 before agreeing to continue negotiations with Canada leading up to meetings in Ottawa.
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In addition to the trade talks, the two leaders pledged to double bilateral trade by 2025 and announced a pair of breakthroughs in agriculture.
