December 03: Beijing: Chinese President Hu Jintao on Thursday called for better relations with Canada after years of discord on human rights issues.
Hu spoke after meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper during the Canadian leader’s visit to Beijing.
Canada’s differences with China have widened since Harper’s conservative government took office nearly four years ago. His visit, part of a swing through eastern Asia, appears aimed at overcoming negative sentiment on both sides.
Hu said China hoped to “increase understanding, extend practical cooperation, and bring Chinese-Canadian cooperation to a new level.”
Harper said that the visit would boost trade and cooperation. He held meetings with both Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao, who said, “I hope China-Canada relations can turn a new page.”
China is Canada’s second-largest trading partner after the United States, with bilateral trade volume increasing from USD 23 billion in 2006 to about USD 35 billion in 2008, according to statistics from China’s Customs Administration.
But in a sign of some of the lingering discord, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang called on Canada to deport Lai Changxing, accused of heading a network that smuggled as much as USD 10 billion of goods, including untaxed oil, into China with the protection of corrupt officials.
–PTI