by John Hayward
Chinese Premier Li Qiang embraced Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to Beijing on Thursday, telling the Canadian leader that his visit represented a “new starting point” for the previously strained relations between their countries.
“Standing at a new starting point, China is willing to work with Canada to uphold the strategic partnership, strengthen dialogue and communication, enhance political mutual trust, respect each other’s core interests, seek common ground while shelving differences, and continuously expand pragmatic cooperation to add more impetus to the development of both countries,” Li said.
Li said the “turnaround” in relations was the result of work from both sides, and China was now ready to seek “stable growth in bilateral trade” in areas like digital technology and agriculture.
“China is ready to enhance cooperation with Canada within frameworks such as the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, G20, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, jointly uphold multilateralism and free trade, improve global governance, and make the international order more just and equitable,” Li said.
Carney responded that Canada is “willing to strengthen dialogue with China in various fields on the basis of mutual respect, leverage complementary advantages, and promote cooperation in areas such as economy, trade, energy, green economy, agriculture, and people-to-people exchanges.”
“Chinese companies are welcome to invest and do business in Canada, and Canadian enterprises are fully confident in deepening cooperation with the Chinese side,” he said.
Carney and Li both agreed to work together in supporting the United Nations and defending multilateralism. Li added China’s desire to “make the international order more just and equitable.”
Relations between China and Canada soured after Canada arrested Chinese Communist Party royalty Meng Wanzhou to face charges for financial crimes in the United States in 2018. China took several Canadians hostage and brought enormous pressure to bear against Canada to secure Meng’s release.
Carney’s private-sector business ties to China were an issue during his campaign for prime minister, but he convinced voters that he had no conflicts of interest, and he regarded China as the greatest threat to Canadian national security. There was little evidence of that healthy suspicion during his trip to Beijing, the first by a Canadian prime minister since 2017.