Chinese President Xi Jinping urged enhanced cooperation between Beijing and Ottawa in a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. (Photo : Getty Images)
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for better cooperation between Beijing and Ottawa during a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday ahead of the G20 Leaders' Summit.
According to China Daily, Xi declared that China and Canada should develop better relations through economic cooperation which is better enhanced with landmark projects between the two nations.
The Chinese president pointed out that Beijing and Ottawa have great potential in developing cooperation in fields such as financial services, energy, technological innovation, and equipment manufacturing.
Echoing the opinion of his fellow Chinese leader, Premier Li Keqiang agreed that China and Canada should boost economic relations, particularly in technology and agriculture.
"We agreed to conduct feasibility research for a free trade zone as soon as possible and ... safeguard trade liberalization and investment facilitation," Li explained.
Speaking of agriculture, Canada is currently hoping to change China's mind and convince the Asian country to loosen strict rules covering their canola export.
A recent analysis from the Globe and Mail revealed University of Saskatchewan agricultural and resource economics assistant professor Stuart Smyth's opinion on China's additional regulations on canola trade.
"I think it's a bit of a bluff by China to say, 'Look, we can just go somewhere else.' If they could do that, they would probably already be doing that," the outlet quoted him saying.
However, China appears to be warming up to the idea of cooperating better with Canada, especially after the North American nation applied for membership in the Middle Kingdom's multilateral bank.
Meanwhile, a separate report from China Daily revealed that Canada's is applying for membership in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) per an announcement from Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau during a press conference in Beijing.
According to AIIB President Jin Liqun, Canada would be the first North American nation to join a multilateral bank and is very much welcome to do so.
"The decision of Canada to apply to join AIIB is very welcome and shows its confidence in the strong foundations the bank has built in our first few months," Jin explained, adding that Canada's membership could be beneficial for the AIIB.
