Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday called on China and Canada to advance the building of a new strategic partnership with a sense of responsibility toward history, the people and the world.
Xi made the remarks while meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Beijing.
Xi noted that their meeting in October last year in Gyeogju, Republic of Korea, opened a new phase of positive development in China-Canada relations, and both sides conducted in-depth discussions on restoring and resuming cooperation across various fields, and achieved positive outcomes.
The healthy and stable development of China-Canada relations is in the common interests of the two countries and also conducive to world peace, stability, development and prosperity, he added.
Both sides should promote China-Canada relations onto a path of healthy, stable and sustainable development to better benefit the peoples of both countries, Xi said.
Xi put forward four proposals regarding China-Canada relations. First, both countries should be partners of mutual respect. Over the past 55 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the bilateral relations have gone through ups and downs, offering valuable historical experience and practical insights.
He said that despite different national conditions, both countries should respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, respect the political systems and development paths they have chosen respectively, and adhere to the correct way of getting along with each other.
Second, China and Canada should be partners in common development. The essence of China-Canada economic and trade relations is mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, with both sides benefiting from cooperation. China’s high-quality development and high-level opening up will continue to provide new opportunities and expand new space for China-Canada cooperation.
Xi called on both sides to increase efforts to promote cooperation and reduce the negative list, thereby strengthening the bond of shared interests through deeper and broader cooperation.
Third, the two countries should be partners of mutual trust. Noting that people-to-people connectivity is the most fundamental, solid and lasting form of interconnection, Xi urged both sides to encourage exchanges and cooperation in education, culture, tourism, sports and sub-national areas, facilitate personnel exchanges and consolidate the popular will foundation.
Fourth, China and Canada should be partners in collaboration. A divided world cannot address the common challenges facing humanity. The solution lies in upholding and practicing true multilateralism and promoting the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.
China is willing to enhance communication and coordination with Canada within the frameworks of the United Nations, the G20 and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation to jointly address global challenges, Xi said.
For his part, Carney noted that with a long history of friendly engagement and strong economic complementarity, Canada and China enjoy extensive common interests and opportunities.
Canada wishes to build with China a new strategic partnership that is strong and enduring so as to deliver greater benefits to the two peoples, he said.
The Canadian side reaffirms the one-China policy, Carney said, voicing commitment to working with China in the spirit of mutual respect and partnership to expand and strengthen cooperation in areas such as economy and trade, energy, agriculture, finance, education and climate change.
Multilateralism underpins global security and stability, and the Global Governance Initiative put forward by President Xi is important, he said, adding that Canada is ready to intensify multilateral coordination with China to uphold multilateralism and the authority of the UN and to promote international peace and stability.
After the meeting, the two sides issued the Joint Statement of the China-Canada Leaders’ Meeting.
SOURCE: CGTN News