China, Canada pledge to further boost economic ties

DAVOS, Switzerland - China and Canada pledged to further boost the economic and trade relations at a meeting between their senior officials on Thursday during the ongoing World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Liu He, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and director of the General Office of the Central Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs, met with Canadian Minister of Finance Bill Morneau.

Liu is leading the Chinese delegation to the annual World Economic Forum held from Jan 23 to 26 in the eastern Swiss town of Davos.

In recent years, Sino-Canadian relations have made great strides. During Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's visit to China last year, the leaders of the two countries reached many important consensuses that provided strategic guidelines for the development of bilateral relations, he said.

Liu emphasized that China holds a positive attitude toward promoting cooperation in various fields between the two countries, and that both sides also share broad common interests in boosting their own economic development, promoting economic globalization and safeguarding the multilateral trade system.

Both sides should make every effort to implement the important consensuses reached by the leaders of the two countries and push forward the new development of the strategic partnership between China and Canada, he concluded.

Morneau said that Canada is willing to further expand and deepen its friendly relations with China, and hopes to take more steps with China in all fields to carry out more cooperation.

Canada supports free trade policies, and is willing to continue the strategic dialogue with China on economic and financial development and promote the continuous development of bilateral trade cooperation.