China urges Canada to approve investment treaty

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has urged Canada to approve a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) as early as possible during a meeting with visiting Canadian Governor General David Johnston here. "[We] welcome more Canadian enterprises to invest in China and hope that the Canadian side will accelerate the pace to approve the China-Canada BIT and create favorable environments for mutual investment to benefit the people of the two countries," Xinhua news quoted the Chinese premier as saying. The two countries concluded their BIT negotiations last year. Li said the Chinese government appreciated the Canadian government's pragmatic policy toward China in recent years. China is ready to stick with the principle of equality and mutual respect in order to tap the potential for reciprocal cooperation in key areas, Li said. For his part, Johnston said the Canadian side cherishes its friendship with China and will work with the Chinese side to give full play to their mutually complementary advantages and expand cooperation in trade, investment, energy, resources, technology, education and culture in pursuit of common development and further improvement of bilateral relations.