Pacts signed at first Sino-Canadian talks

China and Canada agreed to jointly facilitate economic growth in the two countries and worldwide, releasing a positive signal to jointly defend the global multilateral system and economic globalization after a high-level dialogue on Monday.

The First China-Canada Economic and Financial Strategic Dialogue was co-hosted by Chinese State Councilor Wang Yong and Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau and Minister of International Trade Diversification Jim Carr in Beijing.

The two countries made more than 50 agreements to strengthen the bilateral economic relationship. And the results could benefit both sides in a win-win situation, according to a statement after the dialogue.

China hopes to further enhance macroeconomic policy cooperation and to implement the important consensus achieved by the two countries’ leaderships, said Wang.

He also expected to broaden the scale of Sino-Canadian economic cooperation, to jointly promote the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative and to improve global economic governance.

Canada considers developing its relationship with China of great importance, according to Canadian officials.

Economies in the two countries are complementary, with great potential for cooperation. Canada is willing to deepen trade and investment cooperation with China and to improve stable and sustainable economic growth in the two countries, they said.

Morneau and Carr also said that the two sides will jointly support and improve the multilateral and rule-based trade system as well as enhance cooperation under the global economic governance framework to deal with global challenges together.

Delegates from the two countries discussed the macroeconomic situation, global economic governance, trade and investment cooperation and financial cooperation.

China remains Canada’s second-largest single-country merchandise trading partner. In the first nine months of the year, Sino-Canadian trade volume reached $47.2 billion, up by 24.1 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to the General Administration of Customs.

In 2017, the two countries’ total trade volume was $51.7 billion, a year-onyear rise of 13.3 percent, the customs administration said. China and Canada also aim to double their trade volume in the decade leading up to 2025, officials said.

This year also marks the China-Canada Tourism Year 2018. In 2017, more than 1.5 million visits were made between the two countries, promoting people-to-people exchanges and bilateral cooperation, according to Canadian immigration agency officials. Canada has set a goal of doubling the number of Chinese tourists visiting Canada by 2021, they said.