Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau applauded his country's long and constructive relationship with China at The Economist's 2016 Canada Summit on Wednesday in Toronto.

"We have both looked at the economic opportunities through the decades. Canada wants China to succeed on the world stage," said Trudeau, whose late father Pierre first established diplomatic relations with Beijing 46 years ago when he was prime minister.

Justin Trudeau said China was to be congratulated for contributing hundreds of millions of people to the global middle class. "This is a significant achievement," he said.

The prime minister made the comments during an interview by Brooke Unger, Americas editor for The Economist.

China is Canada's second-largest trading partner, behind only the US, as two-way merchandise shipments totaled C$78 billion two years ago.

About 1.5 million of Canada's 35 million people are of Chinese descent, with Mandarin the third most-spoken language after English and French.

The Liberal government succeeded the Conservative government of Stephen Harper and has sought to improve relations with Beijing.

China remembers Pierre Trudeau's outreach, according to President Xi Jinping, whom the new PM met at the G20 in Turkey last November. Xi called the elder Trudeau a man of extraordinary political vision.

renali@chinadailyusa.com