China willing to lengthen cooperation list with Canada, says commerce ministry

China is willing to lengthen its cooperation list with Canada, and to compress the "problem list" as well, a Ministry of Commerce spokesperson said on Thursday.

Spokesperson He Yadong made the remarks when asked about the recent statement by Maninder Sidhu, Canada's minister of international trade, that he looks forward to discussing further tariff reductions on Canadian rapeseed, peas and seafood with his Chinese counterpart this fall.

In January, China and Canada, guided by the important consensus reached by the two countries' leaders, signed an economic and trade cooperation roadmap, which established an initial joint arrangement for addressing bilateral trade issues, said He.

Since then, the two sides' economic and trade teams have remained in close communication on the follow-up implementation, he said.

He noted that China consistently advocates addressing each other's concerns through equal-footed dialogue and consultation, and stands ready to promote the healthy, stable and sustainable development of China-Canada economic and trade relations.

According to the roadmap signed in January, the two sides agreed to enhance the China-Canada Joint Economic and Trade Commission mechanism and comprehensively expand pragmatic economic and trade cooperation across all fields. They also reached a positive consensus on cooperation under multilateral and regional frameworks.