Canada eyes ties with China as strategic priority
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Xinhua, July 19, 2011
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Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird (left) met with Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang (right) |
Canada sees its relationship with China as a strategic priority and it is committed to taking the ties to a new level, Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird said Monday during his official visit to China.
"Canada is a big country with a small population and huge resources, so our economy is naturally complementary to one another," Baird said in an interview with Xinhua on Monday night.
The Canadian foreign minister arrived in Beijing on Sunday at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi. It is Baird's first outgoing visit since he took office as foreign minister in May.
Baird met with Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang and held talks with Yang respectively earlier on Monday.
"We discussed how we can take our relationship to the next level," Baird said, referring to his talks with Yang, adding that Canada and China have made good progress over the past years in advancing their bilateral ties.
"Over the past five years, we've seen significant improvement, with more trade both ways, with more investment both ways," he said.
According to Statistics Canada, the value of Canadian exports to China rose by 18.7 percent in 2010 to 13.2 billion U.S. dollars, an impressive jump from 4 billion U.S. dollars in 2002.
In 2010, China's direct investment in Canada reached 14.69 billion U.S. dollars, up from some 5.9 billion U.S. dollars in 2008, statistics said. The amount ranked the sixth after the United States, the Netherlands, Britain, Switzerland, France and Japan.
Canada not only benefits from China's import and investment, but also helps to fuel the continuous economic growth of China in return, Baird said.
The foreign minister said that people-to-people exchanges are a cornerstone for the bilateral ties between Canada and China.
"People-to-people relationships are incredibly important," he said, adding that the contact between individual Chinese and Canadians help to lead the bilateral ties to "the next level."
"We were really thrilled with the Approved Destination Status," Baird said. Since China granted Canada Approved Destination Status last year, around 200,000 Chinese tourists traveled to Canada, a 20-percent increase from 2009.
Media reports say that there are 100,000 Chinese students studying in Canada.
"We have significant ties of education, tourism, and trade and commerce," he said, adding that the bilateral relations will help to "increase prosperity of both Canada and China."
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