Mutually beneficial cooperation is the key reason for the progress in the relationship between two countries.
China is the largest developing country in the world, and, in terms of area, Canada is the largest developed country. Economic and trade relations between the two countries are complementary. China-Canada relations have for a long time been warmer than those with other Western countries. Under the current situation, given the international financial crisis,it is necessary for Canada to speed up diversification of trade and investment, especially expanding cooperation with emerging economies including China. It has become a priority in Canadian foreign policy.
On the other hand, China is speeding up transformation of its economic development mode, promoting strategic adjustments in economic structure and developing new industries and modern service industries. Canada has its own advanced technologies and valuable management experience in motor industry, space-aerospace industry, information technology (IT), pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, financial service and other fields. Meanwhile, Canada has rich energy resources strongly complementary with China. Canada-China relations have become one of the most important bilateral relations in the world and bilateral relations have great potential for further growth.
Common interests of two countries on major international and regional issues are increasing. With the current international strategic focus gradually moving to the east, the Asia-Pacific region became the most dynamic region in global development and an important engine for economic growth in the world. At the same time, countries of the Asia-Pacific region are facing the challenging tasks of promoting common development by cooperation and enhancing mutual trust through communication and dialogue.
In recent years, cultural exchanges grow increasingly close between the two sides. According to latest data from China, the two countries’ personnel exchanges broke through 1 million in 2011. China has become the main source of immigration and foreign students to Canada. On average, in every four overseas students studying in Canada, one is from China. Many Confucius Institutes in Canada and Canada research centers in China have built new platforms and provided new windows for mutual understanding, cooperation in education, high-level consultation, and cultural dialogue.
We have reasons to believe that, Harper’s visit will make new progress in promoting the political mutual trust, expanding practical cooperation, and enhancing cultural exchanges.
