Canadian PM Carney To Meet Chinese President Xi Jinping At APEC Summit

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 27 (Bernama) -- Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he will hold a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, this week.

Carney said the meeting would build on earlier discussions he had with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in New York, which covered commercial cooperation and the evolution of the global system.

He said the engagement marks a renewed phase in the Canada-China relationship after years of limited contact.

“There were greater restrictions that were in place given other issues in the relationship. There needs to be a resetting of expectations of where the relationship can go and where it won’t go,” he said in a press conference with selected media on the sidelines of the 47th ASEAN Summit and Related Summit here, today.

At the same time, Carney said he is approaching the dialogue with Xi as part of a long-term relationship-building process rather than a single transaction.

“I look forward to the discussions with President Xi and they’re about much broader issues than trade. This is the difference between relationship and transaction. We’re starting a relationship, building up the relationship on that,” he said.

Besides that, he said China remains an essential global actor and a major economic partner for Canada and there are areas where progress can be made, including agriculture, fisheries, and manufacturing.

“This is our second-largest trading partner. This is the second-largest economy in the world. This is one of the most influential actors in terms of the global system such as it is,” he added.

 -- BERNAMA