On his first official visit to China, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday made it clear that he is seeking to rebuild ties with China and that Canada is treating the relationship with China as nothing less than critical and important.
RENEWED RELATIONSHIP
"Any economic strategy that ignores China or treats that valuable relationship as anything less than critical and important is not just short-sighted, it is irresponsible," Trudeau said in a dialogue session with Chinese entrepreneurs Tuesday.
Remembering fondly his first visit as a child to China with his father, former Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau, the younger Trudeau said that he brought his daughter with him on this trip, and that he hoped to pass along "the friendship and the openness towards China" not only to his own children, but also to the future generations of Canada.
Qian Hao, director of the Canada Research Center at Shanghai International Studies University, said that China-Canada ties weren't at their best during former prime minister Stephen Harper's government, and that Trudeau is looking to reset the relationship.
"A stronger and deeper relationship with China is essential if we are to achieve our own objectives to create Canadian jobs, to strengthen the middle class, and to grow the Canadian economy," Trudeau said in a statement before embarking on the visit to China.
"China is willing to further deepen China-Canada ties, and make joint efforts with other G20 members to build a better future for the world economy," Chinese Ambassador to Canada Luo Zhaohui said.
"LOOKING FAVORABLY AT JOINING AIIB"
Investment cooperation is obviously on Trudeau's mind, as the Canadian government is "looking very favorably" at the possibility of joining the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Trudeau said.
"My government believes very much in the importance of investing in infrastructure, that is one of the reasons why we are looking very favorably at the possibility of joining the AIIB," he said.
The AIIB, a not-for-profit multilateral development bank initiated by China, was officially established last December and started operating in January. There are more than 30 countries waiting to join the AIIB, which already has 57 founding members, officials at the bank said.
"It's important that global business leaders like you know Canada is a good place to invest," Trudeau said, touting his country's agriculture, energy, culture, technology and other sectors.
Chu Jian, an expert with the Bejing-based think tank Center for China and Globalization, said that Trudeau wants to cement economic ties with China on the visit and that Canada wants "a piece of the pie" as an increasing number of Chinese companies eye investment opportunities abroad.
China's total investment in Canada hit 58.3 billion dollars last year. The first Chinese yuan clearing center in North America was launched in Toronto last year.
TRADE, GLOBALIZATION
During his week-long visit, Trudeau is scheduled to meet with Chinese government leaders, members of the business community and the general public, as well as attend the Group of 20 summit to be hosted in the eastern city of Hangzhou.
Before the big gathering of leaders from the world's most important economies, Trudeau has been keen on singing the praises of globalization and trade.
"We are at a time where international trade and international investment often get looked through a populous lens as being something that is bad," said Trudeau, mentioning Britain's referendum on an exit from the European Union and the polarizing politics seen in this year's U.S. presidential election cycle.
Canadians "have always known trade is essential to creating success for our citizens," he said.
China is now Canada's second largest trading partner. The trade between the two countries amounted to nearly 67.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2015, a 10.1 percent increase over 2014, and accounted for 8.1 percent of Canada's total merchandise trade, according to Canadian statistics.
"As prime minister, it is my job to make sure that our government helps to create the best conditions for economic growth, and in Canada, we know, we can't do that on our own," said Trudeau. "As the world's second largest economy, China plays a central role in driving global economic growth."
