China, Canada pursuing FTA
Talks take time, but deal is close: ambassador
The Chinese government will continue to make joint efforts with Canada to advance the creation of a ChinaCanada free trade zone, with officials trying to create conditions for starting talks as soon as possible, a Chinese trade official told the Global Times on Thursday.
Since September 2016, China and Canada have been discussing the feasibility of a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA), and these talks have basically been completed after a year of joint efforts, Gao Feng, spokesman for China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), told the Global Times at a press conference in Beijing.
During Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s visit to China from Sunday to Thursday, both countries conducted friendly and profound negotiations on the China-Canada FTA and expressed willingness to sign the agreement, Gao noted.
“China has been and will be open to the outside world, and signing the China-Canada FTA will benefit the two nations,” Gao said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs made similar comments on Thursday at a regular press briefing.
Sino-Canadian economic and trade ties have strong complementarity and there is great potential for further cooperation, Gao said.
Bilateral trade between China and Canada reached $42.4 billion in the first 10 months of this year, up 14.2 percent year-on-year, according to the latest data from China’s General Administration of Customs.
During Trudeau’s visit to China, both countries reached a consensus on strengthening bilateral economic and trade ties and promoting liberalization and facilitation of global trade and investment, Gao said, adding that quality inspection departments from both countries had signed a memorandum of understanding on the food trade.
“The cooperation between China and Canada is really strong, stronger than it’s been for years,” John McCallum, Canada’s Ambassador to China, told the Global Times on Wednesday at the Fortune Global Forum, which runs from Wednesday to Friday in Guangzhou, capital of South China’s Guangdong Province.
China and Canada are on the same page, and China will soon become the largest economy in the world, McCallum said, noting that in many sectors, China is leading the way, which is why Canada wants to be more engaged with China.
This is a golden era for cooperation between the two countries, McCallum noted.
He said that talks on the ChinaCanada FTA are still continuing. “I don’t think there has been a final resolution yet. This is a very important issue, [and may] take time. But I think the progress is ongoing, and if we’re not there yet, we’re getting closer.”
McCallum said China and Canada will work toward reducing barriers and avoiding protectionism.