Canada can help China’s image says Trudeau

Justin Trudeau delivered a message to powerful business leaders in Beijing on Tuesday, shortly after his plane touched down: China needs a little more Canada.

The prime minister tried to sell China on the idea that strengthening its connection to Canada would ease international concerns about the stunning rise of the economic superpower.

Trudeau made the pitch during the first event of his weeklong visit to China, where he aims to improve Canada’s gloomy growth prospects by deepening business ties with the rapidly growing Asian country.

“Around the world there is anxiety around trade, there is anxiety around China,” Trudeau told a question-and-answer session at the China Entrepreneur Club.

He said Canada is in a “position to help China position itself in a very positive way on the world stage.”

Trudeau argued it’s because Canada is more open to trade than many countries right now and because of its “deep friendship” with China that goes back generations.

Canada, Trudeau added, can help China when it comes to governance and rule-of-law issues as well as global fears about the “tremendous appetite” of Chinese entrepreneurs and companies as they seek out foreign investments and partnerships. “This isn’t always well received by populations and governments around the world,” he said.

“China should be — and is — confident and successful enough to know that it should be able to ask for advice and take suggestions about how to be better for its citizens, better to build a greater future.”

He only mentioned human rights once during an event that lasted longer than an hour.

During a news conference Tuesday in Ottawa, a coalition of advocacy groups including Amnesty International urged Trudeau not to squander the chance to encourage China to take meaningful steps on human rights.