China, Canada aim to boost annual trade volume to $50b

BEIJING -- Delegations from China and Canada held talks on boosting economic and trade ties on Friday, according to a statement from the Ministry of Commerce.

The talks were held in Xiamen, located in east China's Fujian province, and were jointly hosted by Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Chao and Canadian Deputy Minister of International Trade Louis Levesque.

In the first seven months, bilateral trade reached $29.24 billion, up 11.3 percent from a year earlier, said Wang, adding that he expects full-year bilateral trade to hit $50 billion.

The delegations conducted in-depth and extensive discussions the expansion of bilateral trade and investment cooperation, as well as China-Canada economic and trade relations, according to the statement.

China attaches great importance to developing economic and trade cooperation with Canada, Wang said.

China and Canada concluded a series of negotiations, including those concerning an agreement on investment protection, when Prime Minister Stephen Harper paid a visit to China in February, he said.

In August, the completion of bilateral economic research further consolidated mutual cooperation regarding economics and trade, Wang said.

Levesque said bilateral trade and investment cooperation have grown rapidly as a result of multiple high-level exchanges and visits.

He said Canada wishes to deepen cooperation with China in order to boost bilateral economic and trade ties.