Stephen Harper wraps up his third official visit to China

Beijing :Prime Minister Stephen Harper today wrapped-up his third official visit to China. While in Beijing, the Prime Minister and China’s Premier Li Keqiang agreed to a series of initiatives under the Canada-China Joint List of Outcomes 2014, including the establishment of an economic and financial strategic dialogue to enhance Canada-China commercial ties and the expansion of a Memorandum of Understanding on Nuclear Cooperation to increase exports to China. The leaders also agreed to a set of measures to support the increased use of renminbi in trade, commerce and investment between the two countries, which will help establish North America’s first offshore renminbi centre in Canada. The Prime Minister also met with President Xi Jinping and discussed the bilateral relationship and international issues of mutual interest.

As part of promoting bilateral commercial trade, the Prime Minister met with a Canadian business delegation from a wide range of sectors to discuss the tremendous opportunities for Canadian companies to invest and grow their businesses in China. He also witnessed a series of commercial signings between Canadian and Chinese firms which are expected to create more than 2,000 jobs in the Canadian market. Lastly, while in Beijing, the Prime Minister took part in the Canada-China Business Forum where he engaged business leaders from both countries and highlighted the importance of the Canada-China commercial relationship.

While in Hangzhou, the Prime Minister announced that Canada will open new trade offices in the Chinese cities of Hangzhou, Xi’an, Xiamen and Tianjin. This will help Canadian businesses flourish in some of the fastest growing regions of China, bringing Canada’s trade network to a total of 15 locations across the country.

Finally, on the first day of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Meeting, the Prime Minister strongly encouraged members to accelerate trade and investment liberalization, highlighting significant measures that Canada has taken to further facilitate international commercial flows with the region.

During his visit to China, the Prime Minister was accompanied by John Baird, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade, James Moore, Minister of Industry, Gerry Ritz, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, and Alice Wong, Minister of State for Seniors.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper has said that we the Leaders of Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico,

New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, United States, and Vietnam, welcome the significant progress in recent months, as reported to us by our Ministers, that sets the stage to bring these landmark Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations to conclusion.  We are encouraged that Ministers and negotiators have narrowed the remaining gaps on the legal text of the agreement and that they are intensively engaging to complete ambitious and balanced packages to open our markets to one another, in accordance with the instructions we gave them in Bali a year ago.  With the end coming into focus, we have instructed our Ministers and negotiators to make concluding this agreement a top priority so that our businesses, workers, farmers, and consumers can start to reap the real and substantial benefits of the TPP agreement as soon as possible.

As we mobilize our teams to conclude the negotiations, we remain committed to ensuring that the final agreement reflects our common vision of an ambitious, comprehensive, high-standard, and balanced agreement that enhances the competitiveness of our economies, promotes innovation and entrepreneurship, spurs economic growth and prosperity, and supports job creation in our countries.  We are dedicated to ensuring that the benefits of the agreement serve to promote development that is sustainable, broad based and inclusive, and that the agreement takes into account the diversity of our levels of development.  The gains that TPP will bring to each of our countries can expand even further should the open approach we are developing extend more broadly throughout the region.  We remain committed to a TPP structure that can include other regional partners that are prepared to adopt its high standards.

Our fundamental direction to our Ministers throughout this process has been to negotiate an outcome that will generate the greatest possible benefit for each of our countries.  In order to achieve that, our governments have worked to reflect the input we each have received from our stakeholders in the negotiation.  Continued engagement will be critical as our Ministers work to resolve the remaining issues in the negotiation.