Chinese President, Canadian PM discuss cooperation

Chinese President Hu Jintao met with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper here Sunday to discuss the strategic partnership between the two countries, Xinhua news reported. The two leaders met on the sidelines of the two-day Economic Leaders' Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, which began in this Russian Far Eastern city on Saturday. Hu said that in recent years China-Canada relations have kept a sound development momentum and that bilateral cooperation has been fruitful in various fields. The two countries have maintained close contacts and coordination on international and regional affairs, he added. The Chinese president put forward a four-point proposal for the further development of the strategic partnership between the two countries. The two sides, Hu said, should broaden bilateral investment cooperation and advance major projects, taking as opportunity the signing of the China-Canada agreement on investment protection. For his part, Harper said establishing the Canada-China strategic partnership, signing a cooperative agreement on peaceful use of nuclear energy, accomplishing a study on the complementarity of the two economies and finalizing the agreement on investment protection have injected great impetus into bilateral ties. As the global financial crisis still drags on, enhancing bilateral cooperation will not only bring benefits to the two countries, but is also conducive to global economic recovery, he said. Canada, Harper said, is willing to work with China to maintain high-level contacts and enhance political dialogue and communication and coordination on major international issues, deepen mutual understanding and jointly oppose protectionism in various forms. Harper also expressed his country's support to China in hosting the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in 2014, saying Canada would like to strengthen cooperation with China in Asia-Pacific regional affairs.