Xi calls for advancing building of China-Canada new strategic partnership

BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met on Friday for the second time in less than three months, in a bid to chart the course for bilateral ties that began to thaw last year.

The Xi-Carney meeting last October in Gyeongju, Republic of Korea, marked a turnaround of bilateral relationship, and placed it on a new trajectory of positive development. The two sides have had in-depth discussions on resuming and restarting cooperation across various fields, and achieved positive outcomes.

The healthy and stable development of China-Canada relations is in the common interests of the two countries and also conducive to world peace, stability, development and prosperity, Xi told Carney, who is on an official visit to China from Wednesday through Saturday, marking the first by a Canadian prime minister in eight years.

With a sense of responsibility for history, for the people and for the world, the two sides should advance the China-Canada new strategic partnership, steer their ties onto the track of sound, steady and sustainable development, and bring more benefits to both peoples, Xi said.

He said China and Canada should be partners of mutual respect, common development, mutual trust and collaboration.

He said that despite different national conditions, both countries should respect each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity, respect the political systems and development paths they have chosen respectively, and adhere to the correct way of getting along with each other.

Xi said the essence of China-Canada economic and trade relations is mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, with both sides benefiting from cooperation. China's high-quality development and high-level opening up will continue to provide new opportunities and expand new space for China-Canada cooperation.

Xi called on both sides to increase efforts to promote cooperation and reduce the negative list, thereby strengthening the bond of shared interests through deeper and broader cooperation.

Xi urged both sides to encourage exchanges and cooperation in education, culture, tourism, sports and sub-national areas, and facilitate two-way travel to entrench public support for strong ties.

China is willing to enhance communication and coordination with Canada within the frameworks of the United Nations (UN), the G20 and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation to jointly address global challenges, Xi said.

Carney noted that with a long history of friendly engagement and strong economic complementarity, Canada and China enjoy extensive common interests and opportunities.

Canada wishes to build with China a new strategic partnership that is strong and enduring so as to deliver greater benefits to the two peoples, Carney said.

The Canadian side reaffirms its adherence to the one-China policy and its commitment to working with China in the spirit of mutual respect and partnership to expand and strengthen cooperation in economy and trade, energy, agriculture, finance, education, climate change, and others, he said.

Carney said multilateralism underpins global security and stability, and the Global Governance Initiative put forward by President Xi is important.

Facing a fast-changing and turbulent world, Canada would like to intensify multilateral coordination with China to uphold multilateralism and the authority of the UN and to promote international peace and stability, he added.

During Carney's visit, both sides issued a joint statement of the China-Canada leaders' meeting, and signed multiple cooperation documents covering trade, customs, energy, construction, culture, and public security.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang held talks with Carney on Thursday. Li said China welcomes more Canadian companies to invest in China and hopes that Canada will provide a fair and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese enterprises investing in the country.

Wang Wen, dean of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at the Renmin University of China, said the new Canadian government's endeavor to mend bilateral ties reflects the pragmatic and rational approach of its new leadership.

Restoring stable bilateral relations will not only enhance political mutual trust but also bring exchanges in economy, trade, culture and other fields back on track, benefiting the people of both countries, Wang said.