Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke in anticipation of the 2018 China-Canada Year of Tourism Monday morning in Beijing, also unveiling the logo for the year of tourism that combines the two countries' best-known mascot animals.

Trudeau says at the event that Canadians, famous for their politeness, will also go out of their way to welcome Chinese tourists. He extends the invitation especially to the younger generation, saying that exchange between the youth will bring about the biggest changes.

Canada has recently opened up seven new visa centers in the country anticipating the boom in tourism, as it expects the number of Chinese tourists to quickly expand.

Bardish Chagger, Canadian Minister of Small business and tourism told CGTN that the population of visiting Chinese is expected to hit one million in 2021, almost doubling the number from 2016.

Official statistics also count China as one of Canada’s fastest-growing tourism markets and third largest source of tourism. And Chinese are increasingly coveted spenders in Canada, as they spent 1.25 billion US dollars there in 2016.

“The Canada-China Year of Tourism is an exceptional opportunity to strengthen the people-to-people connections between our two countries and celebrate the best that Canada and China offer the world. It will grow our tourism sector, which means more middle-class jobs for Canadians and better economic growth for communities across the country,” Trudeau told a roomful of veteran travelers and media at Sina Weibo's headquarters.

Trudeau will later head to Guangzhou for the Forum of Global Fortune.