Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accompanied by Premier Li Keqiang during the welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. (Photo : Getty Images)
Canada is considering the possibility of joining the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Chinese entrepreneurs in a dialogue session on Tuesday, Aug.30, as part of his week-long official visit to China, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
"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," the prime minister said.
More than 30 countries are now waiting to join the AIIB, a non-profit multilateral development bank initiated by China, which was officially formed last December and started its operations in January. It has 57 founding members.
According to the report, Trudeau aims to strengthen bilateral relations with China as he is set to meet with Chinese government leaders, members of the business community and the public. The Canadian leader will also attend the Group of 20 Summit to be held in Hangzhou.
At an event hosted by the China Entrepreneur Club, Trudeau highlighted China's essential role in pushing for global economic growth, being the world's second largest economy.
Trudeau said that both countries will benefit from "a renewed relationship" that will result in new opportunities for trade and investment.
"Any economic strategy that ignores China or treat that valuable relationship as anything less than critical and important is not just short-sighted, it is irresponsible," Trudeau said. "We know that 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."
According to Canadian statistics, the trade between the two countries has reached nearly $67.2 billion in 2015, an increase of 10.1 percent from 2014, which account for 8.1 percent of Canada's total merchandise trade. China is also Canada's second largest trading partner.
It has been 43 years since Pierre Trudeau, the current leader's father, visited China in 1973 and became the first Canadian prime minister to visit the country.
Justin Trudeau brought his own daughter on the trip and said he would like to pass along "friendship and the openness towards China" to his own children and also to the future generations of Canada.
