New plans to form following Li Keqiang’s visit to the capital
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s recent visit to Ottawa on Sept. 21, 2016 marks the first visit by a Chinese Premier in over 13 years. With Keqiang’s visit, China and Canada set to strengthen their ties in economic trade and foreign relations.
“We have decided to strengthen exchanges in all levels and in multiple mechanisms. We have agreed to establish a high-level financial dialogue mechanism,” said Keqiang in a press release. During a meeting with Trudeau in Beijing, both countries agreed to launch a feasibility study on a Canada/China free trade agreement as early as possible.
This is not the first time that Canada and China have been in talks. In 1994, Canada and China began negotiations regarding a potential trade agreement. Negotiations were put aside until the completion of China’s accession to the World Trade Organization, and then resumed in September 2004.
In 2012, Ed Fast, Canada’s Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, and Chen Deming, China’s Minister of Commerce, presided over a ceremonial signing, which concluded the end of negotiations regarding Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA). Two years later, the former Harper government ratified the FIPA agreement and, on Oct. 1, 2014, FIPA was put into effect, setting the agreement in place for a minimum of 31 years.
Recently, the two countries signed an agreement on the sharing and return of fortified assets, along with a joint statement on cooperation with third party markets, enhanced cooperation in tourism, exports of bone-in beef from Canadian cattle, as well as continuing trade in the $2.6 billion canola market, according to CBC News.
With Keqiang’s visit, they agreed on a deal valid through 2020. Canada will also continue to ship frozen beef after a bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) related ban. China is among one of the countries that haven’t reopened their markets following the 2003 BSE outbreak. The bone-beef deal is worth potentially $10 million.
In a recent interview with the Global Times, Tang Xiaosong, director of the Center for Canadian Studies at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, said, “Among the 14 bilateral cooperation documents, the agreement on the sharing and return of forfeited assets is remarkably significant at this time, when Sino-Canadian trade has long been the major area of cooperation in bilateral ties.”
“As China has attached great importance to deepening cooperation with the international community to fight corruption, Trudeau showed his willingness to respond to China’s grave concerns in a bid to change the hard-line stance his predecessor Stephen Harper took against China,” Xiaosong said.
Tang also noted that cooperation is centered on nuclear energy: “China provides capital while Canada boasts advance nuclear technology, following suit of a deal between China and France on the construction of the Hinkley Point nuclear plant in the UK.”
A bilateral trade agreement between Canada and China amounted to nearly $85.8 billion in 2015, a 10.1 per cent increase from 2014, and accounted for 8.1 per cent of Canada’s total goods trade.
Photo couresty of Moerschy CCO Public Domain.