Canada Seeks to Strengthen Bilateral Business Ties With China – Trudeau

China is the world’s second largest economy, and Canada’s second-largest single-country trading partner.

A poll for the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada think-tank released on Monday showed that while 46 per cent of Canadians supported a free trade treaty with China, only 11 per cent backed investment by Chinese state-owned enterprises.

Canada plans to open seven new visa application centers in China to enable Chinese tourists to acquire visas easily when they wish to travel to Canada.

CANADA TO JOIN CHINESE-LED INFRASTRUCTURE BANK: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced plans to apply for a controversial new worldwide infrastructure bank led by China – an initiative Ottawa insists will provide a boost to global and Canadian growth. In July, the Canadian Dairy Commission made a decision to raise the price of industrial milk – which is processed into yogurt, ice cream, cheese and butter – by 2.76 per cent.

Earlier this week China and Canada agreed to an extension on the contentious canola file.

“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.

“We are at a time where global trade and worldwide 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 USA presidential election cycle. “Participation in the bank is clearly in Canada’s best interest”. “They seek his counsel and then he blows off some steam with Iron Man in the boxing ring”. “We were putting our passport on sale and then complaining bitterly when people weren’t coming out of love or devotion [to Canada]”, Mulroney says.

The council said on Wednesday it has “invested millions of dollars in blackleg research” since 2009, when fears for disease prompted a previous Chinese band on canola imports from Canada. Mulroney blames it on a lack of China competency.

In 2015, bilateral trade with China increased 10.1 per cent over 2014.

On Saturday, Trudeau will fly to Hangzhou, where he will meet with Jack Ma, the founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba.

Mainland officials may also raise the matter of Canadian resentment to real-estate purchases by Chinese citizens.

There are, of course, legitimate reasons to be wary of China.

In the afternoon, the prime minister spoke at an event hosted by Canadian insurance firm Manulife, which was launching a program that rewards physically active customers with a free wearable fitness device and a year of free coverage.

Speaking to an elite business crowd in Shanghai, the prime minister delivered a strong public criticism of China’s record on freedom of expression and human rights.

Yet, as the concern over China’s influence on Canada’s all-important housing market demonstrates, we can no longer afford to engage China only when it suits us.