Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is making an official visit to China from Feb. 7 to 11. Last winter, during an interview with Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Harper said that he was looking forward the visit to China. In addition, Harper and Chinese Ambassador to Canada Zhang Junsai met the press together recently, briefing the latter on the visit.
The series of activities of Canadian Prime Minister clearly shows the Canadian side’s positive attitude to and strong desire for upgrading the bilateral ties. Why has the Canadian prime minister attached such importance to visiting China?
Firstly, Chinese President Hu Jintao made a state visit to Canada in Jun 2010. The leaders of the two countries reiterated commitment to boosting the Canada-China strategic partnership and opening a new chapter in the relationship between China and Canada. One of the achievements in that visit is an agreement to designate Canada as a destination of overseas travel by Chinese citizens. After that, about 350,000 Chinese tourists went to Canada in 2011. Besides, high-level official visits have been frequent.
Secondly, during Harper’s last visit to China in December 2009, the ‘China-Canada joint statement’ was announced by the two nations. The statement has important political significance. The joint statement reviewed and summarized the process of Sino-Canadian relations, illustrated a shared positive attitude toward developing bilateral ties. Furthermore, it was the first time to put forward some special principles in the joint statement, including ‘respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, core interests and major concerns. Neither side should support any attempt by any force to undermine this principle’, ‘admit nations and the people have the right to choose their own path’ and ‘countries should respect each other’s choice of development model’. These principles have important significances for China-Canada relation to make long-term, healthy and steady progress.
Thirdly, the two countries would like to raise the volume of two-way trade to 60 billion U.S. dollars by 2015. Last year, trade between the two countries reached 47.45 billion U.S. dollars. At present, China is Canada's second largest trading partner and China has become its third largest export market in 2010.
Fourthly, Lai Changxing, a Chinese fugitive who had been in Canada for 12 years, was repatriated back to China in July 2011. This is an important achievement in judicial cooperation between China and Canada. It has a positive role in the relationship between two countries.
