Envoys express optimism for China-Canada ties

Xue Bing, who will complete his tenure as Chinese consul general in Toronto and become ambassador to Papua New Guinea, speaks at a business luncheon hosted by the Canada China Business Council on Monday in Toronto. NA LI / CHINA DAILY

Two envoys, one from China and one from Canada, have lofty goals for cooperation between the two countries.

Xue Bing, who will complete his tenure as Chinese consul general in Toronto in early March and become China's ambassador to Papua New Guinea, and John McCallum, Canada's ambassador-designate to China, gave farewell remarks at a Canada China Business Council luncheon on Monday in Toronto.

Xue noted that China-Canada relations yielded fruitful results in 2016. The exchange of visits between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier Li Keqiang achieved substantial outcomes, with the signing of dozens of intergovernmental and commercial agreements.

According to Xue, the two sides will create opportunities for the senior leaders to meet each other in either China or Canada or in a third area.

"We are expecting the second annual dialogue between the Chinese and Canadian prime ministers this year," Xue said.

From Feb 20-24, the first face-to-face discussions for a possible Canada-China FTA were held in Beijing. Canadian and Chinese officials are planning the next round of discussions.

"We will formulate the plan to achieve the goals of doubling trade and two-way visits by 2025 based on 2015 figures," Xue said.

The outlook for 2017 looks bright for the two nations.

China will convene the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, which will draw a blueprint for the next stage of national development.

Canada will stage grand celebrations to commemorate the 150th anniversary of its confederation.

"We are working closely to support each other, and we are highly confident that the bilateral relations will gain a more robust momentum in the future," Xue said.

Xue also talked about the recent uncertainty for the global economy, such as trade protectionism and its negative impact on globalization.

"In my opinion, it's just the right time for major economies and trading partners like Canada and China to stick together. We are in the same boat," Xue said. "It's in our best interests to work more closely to uphold the WTO rules, support an … inclusive and non-discriminatory multilateral trading regime so as to build an open world economy.

"In this context, we're very pleased to see that John McCallum has been appointed as the ambassador to China at this very important juncture." Xue added. "We believe that Ambassador McCallum, as a senior minister, an economist, and an old friend of China, will further advance the bilateral relationship and achieve more mutually beneficial results."

McCallum, a father of three "50 percent Chinese" sons, emphasized that despite differences between the two countries, Canada and China have much in common on economic growth, job-creation and issues such as education and healthcare.

He said he is committed to strengthening bilateral ties and expects to see rapid progress on FTA talks as well as broader cooperation between China and Canada.