Canada, China Aim To Strike Free-Trade Deal

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Thursday that China and Canada have agreed to strengthen their ties in economic, trade and other fields. We have also agreed to establish a financial mechanism for high-level dialogue and one for annual meetings between the foreign ministers of the two nations, Li said.

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”.

$2 billion – Value of Canadian canola seed exported to China in 2015.

Canadian Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau and Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China Li Keqiang attends a welcoming ceremony with military honours in Ottawa on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2016. The poll revealed that 46 percent of Canadians would support the agreement, which is 10 percent more than in 2014. It’s Li Keqiang’s first full day of business after arriving on Wednesday.

“For China, we have pretty sufficient amount of time to increase the quality of exports to China”, Li said through an interpreter.

Trudeau visited China earlier this month. It already runs an enormous trade balance, sending Canada $46 billion more in goods and merchandise than it buys in return. The US and Canada reportedly house two-thirds of the top 100 fugitives China is seeking, and have yet to sign extradition treaties with China.

Both leaders acknowledged the thornier issues in their relationship – simmering political opposition in Canada to a potential extradition deal with China because it practices capital punishment and has a questionable human rights record.

As Liberal leader in 2013, Trudeau told an audience his admiration stemmed from Beijing’s ability to “turn their economy around on a dime and say ‘we need to go green fastest. we need to start investing in solar'”.

“There shall be no torture of the people concerned”, he said. As prime minister, Pierre Trudeau displayed a weakness for authoritarian figures, in particular Cuba’s Fidel Castro. Despite years of prudence from both sides on the issue, the agreement signed by Li and Trudeau set a consensus to handle future cases and a framework to step closer to formulating an extradition treaty, Tang explained.

Seeking to reassure his hosts, Mr Li said that while the death penalty was needed in China, the law provides for “humanitarian treatment” of accused persons.

Canada’s Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, elected past year, is trying to improve ties and increase trade with the world’s second-largest economy after a decade of rocky relations under his Conservative predecessor, the news agency said.

“What’s obvious to all of us, as we see the American campaign unfold, is that China is an issue”, Charest said.

The Chinese leader praised the reboot after a decade of cooling under the previous Canadian administration, saying through an interpreter: “We believe that China and Canada have extensive common interests and good relations”.

Li said China is one of many countries that still uses the death penalty and said it is consistent with national conditions.