What Attitude Should Canada Take towards China in Trade? 加拿大在贸易中对中国应该采取什么态度？

(Photo from the Xinhua News Agency)

Abstract: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau completed his 5-day visit in China in December 2017, yet many people questioned about what he had achieved there. This article will explore the background of relationships between Canada and China, and between China and the US, review briefly Trudeau’s visit in China, including achievements and problems, then the mistakes and reasons, and finally come up with some correction measures. China is now Canada’s second largest trade partner, third largest tourist source country, and the largest source of international students. With a free trade agreement, Canada’s GDP will increase by $7.8 billion by the year 2030. The Chinese government holds an open attitude to the free trade negotiations and believes that trade relations will improve on the basis of equality, mutual respect, and mutual benefits. Canada signed a free trade agreement with South Korea in 2014, and China has just reached a structural framework with G7, so a free trade agreement with Canada is the right thing to do after four rounds of exploratory talks since last year. This free trade agreement will provide guarantee for a faster and more effective access to the Chinese market. Canada and China are mutually complementing, with no critical issues between them. Canada’s trade relationship with the UK has stalked when the UK exited EU. Non-trade issues such as commitment to democracy, the rule of law and the advancement of women’s rights and their greater participation in society can be discussed later, or not bundled with trade issues. Actually women tend to enjoy more rights than men nowadays in China with the highest employment rate and the highest respect received in the world. The government does not have a good understanding of the differences between the Chinese culture and the Canadian culture as well as the decision- making system in China, nor is it flexible in building relationships even with few bargaining chips with China. Officials believed jobs or technology could be "siphoned away" to China. The Canadian government has already made up guidelines for investment in some key industries. While Chinese companies must obey Canadian laws and regulations while in Canada, it must be noted that Canada and China have different law systems and cultural norms, and China has committed to more and more international agreements. As foreign trade is concerned, China is already a strategic partner with Canada (which is able to consume low priced products with imports from China) as well as an active WTO member, which also enjoys national treatment. When one talks about Chinese big state-owned enterprises, he may forget Canada also has large crown companies. Before criticizing China, one should look at how well the government has done to address the income gap between the rich and poor and the big companies and the small ones. Though the takeover of the majority share of Bombardier by Airbus for $1 may be a good step, ignoring and abandoning the Chinese party is a big mistake both for strategic and for economic reasons.

Key Words: Progressive Trade Agenda, Trudeau, China, labor standards, foreign investment, national treatment

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau completed his 5-day visit in China, yet many people questioned about what he had achieved there. As put by Wendy Dobson and Paul Evans, China is now the regional centre of Asia and the centre of a new world order, and a stable economy in Asia will bring long-term economic bonuses to Canada. This article will explore the background of relationships between Canada and China, and between China and the US, review briefly Trudeau’s visit in China, including achievements and problems, then the mistakes and reasons, and finally come up with some correction measures.

I. What Trudeau Needed to Know before Going to China

China is a vast ancient country, with so many things to eat, to play and to learn. As a state leader of Canada, there are at least three things to know before taking off to Beijing.

1.       China’s Importance to Canada

With the bottleneck in the regenerated negotiations in NAFTA and the withdrawal of the US from TPP, Canada is looking for new ways to reorganize its trade pattern, and China is one of the best countries to fill in the gap. China is now Canada’s second largest trade partner, second largest importing country, second largest exporting market, third largest tourist source country, and the largest source of international students[i]. While China is Canada’s second-largest trading partner, the North American country doesn’t make the top 15 for China, which exchanges more goods with Thailand[ii]. According to the Canada-China Business Council, with a free trade agreement, Canada’s GDP will increase by $7.8 billion by the year 2030; Canada’s export to China will increase by $7.7 billion by the same year; and employment will increase by 25,000[iii].

As for human rights, Premier Li has implied that China is willing to have more talks with Canada, and has already set up two institutions at the minister level to facilitate the work. Moreover, he has mentioned that the Chinese government holds an open attitude to the free trade negotiations and believes that trade relations will improve on the basis of equality, mutual respect, and mutual benefits. Both sides agreed to expedite the economic globalization process, and promote the liberalization of both trade and investment in an open and realistic attitude.

Canada signed a free trade agreement with South Korea in 2014, and China has just reached a structural framework with G7, so a free trade agreement with Canada is the right thing to do after four rounds of exploratory talks since last year. This free trade agreement will provide guarantee for a faster and more effective access of the Chinese market. With the ushering in of the Canada-China Tourism Year in 2018 and the launching of the China International Import Fair in Shanghai in November 2018, more and more trade and cultural exchanges will be held, including the exchange of ideas and methodologies in the traditional Chinese Medicine.

2.       Canada’s Better Trade Position Than the US

Canada and China are mutually complementing, with no critical issues. This can be shown the following two charts, one showing a comparison of Canada and the US, another showing the more proactive and open policy of the present Canadian government.

	US	Canada
Country’s Nature	Trade giant	Developed resource country
Aggressiveness	Dominating	Peace-loving
Trade	Protectionist	Free trade
Environment	Careless	Protectionist
Investment Policy for Chinese Businesses	More and more strict	More and more Open
Policy for Chinese Students	Restricting student visas to study science, technology, engineering, and math	Welcoming with no restrictions
Frictions	Many, political and sometimes military, e.g., interception of the Chinese Milky Way ship in 1993, bombing of the Chinese embassy in the former Yugoslavia in 1999, fighter collision on the South China Sea in 2001, controversy over the South China Sea in May 2017	Minor, mostly concerning human rights
Relationship with China	Competing, though sometimes trying to establish a strategic partnership (initiated when President Jiang visited the US in 1998)	Complementing, comprehensive strategic partnership for the 21st century after 2005

Though when Trump visited Beijing, a banquet was held in the Palace Museum in honour of his visit, and a deal in the amount of US$9 billion was struck in the areas of life sciences, aviation and intelligent manufacturing, many of the contracts are to be completed in a time span of 20-30 years. Furthermore, these effects were offset when Trump went back to the US sand declared China not a market economy.

Although Canada was the first country in the West to have an official diplomatic relation with China, there appeared a certain period of segregation during the time when Harper was Canada’s prime minister. Harper even refused to attend the Olympic Games held in Beijing due to some human rights issues. The writer summarized the following areas in which Trudeau is different from Harper.

Aspect	Harper	Trudeau
Attitude to TPP	Positive	Basically positive
Attitude to Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the major competitor to the US-dominated World Bank	Boycott	Active participation
Attitude to Chinese Take-over	Stop after the case of Nexen	Flexible
Overall policy to China	Pick and choose	Open and re-evaluating

Though China and Australia signed a free trade agreement effective in December 2015, and by January 1, 2016, those categories with zero tariff accounted for 29.2% in China and 90% in Australia[iv], there has been a reverse trend recently with many Chinese students beaten or bullied since late July of this year[v], and with Austalian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s saying that foreign intervention was not wanted and that the Australian people have stood up (in Mandarin)[vi]. The Chinese government has been very alert on the development and has already issued warnings to all its embassy and consulates, which may lead to a travel ban or business ban, and this could put the free trade agreement to a full stop. Canada is more advantageous than Australia in the following comparison, with China’s new global strategic policy to advocate economic globalization and liberalization and its focus to reinforce the North American market.

Category	Australia	Canada
Attitude to Chinese	Discriminating	Friendly, advocating diversity and multi-culturalism
Government’s stand to China	Proud	Friendly
Economic structure	Simple	Comprehensive
Price	High	Moderate
Natural resouces like minerals	Iron, uranium, oil and gas	Oil and gas, potash, uranium, lumber, water, and hydro-power
Population by the end of 2016	23.4 million	34.46 million
People with Chinese origin in the country by the end of 2016	1.2 million accounting for 5.13% of the total population	1.77 million accounting for 5.14% of the total population
Strategic position	Asia-Pacific	North America

Source: Amazing Figure: Finally We Made out How Many Chinese There Are in Canada (in Chinese), BCbay, November 5, 2017, please click the link below to read the article http://www.bcbay.com/life/immigration/2017/11/05/535556.html; Census Result for the Population in Australia in 2016 – a High Percentage of Chinese in Sydney, by Qinghuang, Aozhou 123, July 3, 2017, http://www.aozhou123.com/1-2594.html.

As Canada is part of Commonwealth, it is natural to associate Canada with the UK, so why could not Canada continue and improve its trade relationship with Britain? Well, the UK has withdrawn from EU, as put by a well-informed trade analyst, the new Canada-UK trade arrangement would be the largest trade re-regulation and re-protection since the catastrophic introduction of the Smoot-Hawley Act in the United States in 1930. It is far from a free trade agreement, but a trade restriction agreement, which is a protectionist move by the United Kingdom. CETA basically focuses on products, not services. However, service industries are the lifeblood of the Birtish economy, accounting for 80% of gross domestic product (GDP), and accounting for more of the trade than any other developed economy. As put by Mr. Craig, even if the Brexit agreement includes more robust service clauses, it will inevitably include new restrictions that undermine Britain's considerable trade surplus with the European Union in service trade (£ 17 billion in 2014)[vii]. Therefore, to some extent, developing the Chinese market will be both a feasible and a sound judgment.

3.       China’s Ancient Culture and Its One Party System

China has a history of more than 5000 years since Huang Di, with recordable history of 3700 years since the Shang dynasty. China is also the third largest country in area after Russia and Canada.

With the development of Taoism and Confucianism, the Chinese have both tolerance and flexibility in their culture, and they value people relationships, as the Canadian people do. In the contemporary Chinese history, there were many different attempts of revolution. Those like the military revolution by SunYat-sen and the ideological revolution and constitutional revolution by Chiang Kai-shek all failed until Mao came with the Communist Party. The rule of the Communist Party seems a survival of the fittest. As for human rights, Diana Fu at University of Toronto said the ruling Communist Party’s philosophy on rights is centred on “social rights”, such as food, housing and health care. “China pulled 700 million people out of poverty. If that’s not a tremendous ‘rights’ achievement, then what is? This is the line of thinking that informs the government’s stance towards rights,” she said[viii].

Although the Chinese Communist Party’s one-party rule has many weaknesses, it has the following strengths:

Ø  The rule is assisted by China’s Political Consultative Conferences participated by 8 major parties (aiming at criticisms and suggestions but possessing no power in decision-making) held at the same time as the Communist Party sessions.

Ø  Party leaders are selected from the lower levels, with the top ones having many years of experience in politics and governance and most of them beginning from county and municipal levels.

Ø  There is a poll on the members of the Central Committee periodically.

Ø  There are usually an odd number of members on the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party so that it is easy to have a decisive vote.

Ø  Attempts have been made to have a democratic vote at the village level and then one level up and again up gradually.

II. A Brief Review of Trudeau’s Visit of China in December 2017

The officials noted that the purpose of the trip was to “set the stage for greater trade and investment co-operation.” Many observers expected that, after months of “exploratory” discussions between Canada and China, the countries would announce a formal start to free trade talks during Trudeau’s visit. The official itinerary of his visit to China was conspicuously free of events on human rights or scheduled meetings with advocates there. The same was true for the high-ranking staffers and cabinet ministers along for the journey, government officials said on the eve of the trip[ix]. However, International Trade Minister François-Philippe Champagne said that Canada will not sign a deal that compromises the country’s principles.

The achievements made during the visit can be summarized in the table below[x].

Trudeau’s Achievements Made during His Visit to China in December 2017

Environment	China-Canada Joint Declaration on Climate Change and Clean Growth published, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Agricultural Production	Implementation of agreements in beef and cereals, increasing imports of rapeseed oil products, pork and beef, with the possibility of importing $125 million Canadian beef within 5 years in which roughly $100 million comes from producers in Alberta
Tourism	Promote 2018 as the China-Canada Tourism Year
Commerce	Promote Canadian business environment and welcome foreign investments
Food	Signing of Memorandum of Understanding on Import and Export of Food Products
Natural Resources	Action Plan on Energy Cooperation made
Education	Education Cooperation Agreement signed
Others	Continuous cooperation in the fields of natural resources, safety and security, law enforcement, labor regulations, rule of law, coping with drugs, and cultural exchanges

Note: Members in the delegation include more than 20 businesses such as Bombardier, Shopify, Manulife, SNC Lavalin, BMO and Scotiabank.

Many of the above achievements may be partly attributed to Chinese Premier Keqiang Li’s visit in September 2016 (please note that both premiers declared at a press release after the talk with Prime Minister Trudeau that bilateral trade and personnel exchange should double the level of 2015 by 2025[xi]) and hard work from different departments in the government.

The following facts can show breifly that Trudeau’s visit fell short of expectations:

Ø  Trudeau’s meeting with China’s Premier Li ran late

Ø  A press release after Trudeau’s meeting with Premier Keqiang Li was cancelled

Ø  Not as many significant business contracts or agreements were signed as compared with Trump’s visit (assumed less than 1% of the value reached with Trump’s visit)[xii]

Ø  There was no mention of Canada in Chinese Foreign Affairs Minister Yi Wang’s diplomatic policy report while even Mongolia and Afghanistan were mentioned[xiii]

Ø  At a meeting of Trans-Pacific Partnership nations in Vietnam, Trudeau refused compromise and no-showed the planned signing ceremony, and there was the talk of a ‘TPP-10’ without Canada[xiv]

Countries like South Korea and China clearly demonstrated that it is possible to invest in innovative projects by encouraging and implementing long-range economic development initiatives and goals. Even a scarcity of natural resources is not always a significant obstacle to economic and international trade success. However, government officials need to properly understand some of the attitudes and long-term goals underlying the policies of the ruling authorities in Beijing, among them President Jinping Xi himself. Non-trade issues such as commitment to democracy, the rule of law and the advancement of women’s rights and their greater participation in society can be discussed later, or not bundled with trade issues. What would Trudeau think if Premier Li talked about Aboriginal rights and rights of the terrorists when he visited Canada?

III. Mistakes and Reasons

There are many mistakes made during the visit, and some of them are:

Ø  Lame empty talk on human rights and women’s rights because both that human rights tend to connect with rights to living and development in China (as China has a huge population and complex labor situations) and that women tend to enjoy more rights than men nowadays in China with the highest employment rate the highest respect received in the world

Ø  Focus on Canadian individuals detained in China (and proclaimed the dissatisfaction openly instead of dealing with it diplomatically like Trump) other than on the whole country of Canada

Ø  Insufficient preparation and inadequate awareness of the game played between the US and China just before Trudeau’s trip

Ø  Unilateral promotion of Sino-Canada relations on social media and winning fans in the social circle though it is very popular in China, for a polite welcome may not mean a realistic deal

Ø  Ignorance of the Chinese culture and the multi-tier structure in the Chinese leadership as the final decision maker may not be the one who negotiates with you

Ø  Lack of cooperation with Chinese diplomats, with Canadian diplomats dissatisfied when a Chinese diplomat pointed out that his passport was not brought when accompanying Trudeau and Chinese security guards blocking Canadian photographers for shooting pictures of the two premiers walking on the red carpet

Many may wonder why Trudeau had made so little progress within about a year after Premier Keqiang Li’s visit. Below are some of the reasons summarized.

Ø  Lack of understanding of the differences between the Chinese culture and the Canadian culture as well as the decision-making system in China

Ø  Too much self-confidence and indulgence into social media and ignorance of the potential change of relationships

Ø  Inadequate preparation for the negotiations with the potential #1 economy in the world

Ø  No flexibility in building relationships even with few bargaining chips with China’s net export of $44 billion to Canada a year[xv] and only half the provinces trade with China significantly[xvi] and Australia, Peru and Iceland already having signed a free trade agreement with China and a feasibility study initiated in December 2017 to explore the free trade arrangement with Palestine[xvii]

Ø  Lack of awareness of the game played between the US and China and ignorance of it

Ø  Illusions made from Chinese business donors in Vancouver and Toronto and poor advice from fake Chinese experts

Ø  Contradictive mind with influence from Canadian big companies or from advisors to the Premier

Some analyst comments, Canada’s approach to China has always been marked by arrogance and a self-defeating air of moral superiority, for, Trudeau’s insistence so far on tying into trade agreements agreed policies on gender, the environment and labour is a modernization of the social gospel of the United Church, and many hundreds of millions of Canadian taxpayers’ dollars have been spent by Ottawa trying to persuade the CCP to adopt democracy, the rule of law and trustworthy ways of doing business. However, Premier Li had balked at Trudeau’s insistence that any free trade agreement must include his “progressive trade agenda”, which demands common respect for issues like gender equality, employment standards and environment. Nevertheless, when Trudeau traveled to Beijing, Mr. Champagne stayed behind in Beijing trying to resuscitate the FTA[xviii].

An editor of Global Times once questioned how much democracy and human rights would be reflected in them when Canada imported a pair of shoes from China, and a senior fellow at UBC mentioned that Trudeau and his inner circle should ponder over how we should engage the emerging superpower that was in many ways a different political system and governance system[xix].

As to labor standards, as the author can recall, there has been a two-tier minimum hour rate in BC catering to the general public and students. Also, in Canada, the benefits paid for temporary workers and students tend to be different, and when minimum wages increase, many local employees will be terminated, to be replaced by new immigrants and students. The PM needs to address the progressive labor use first in Canada before taking it to other countries. Furthermore, double standards should not be applied. Yes, the interests of poor people and small businesses need to be taken care of, but it is not the excuse for trade protectionism. The government can use low taxes, subsidies and laws and regulations against monopoly and unfair competition to achieve this goal. Moreover, imported and locally-produced goods should be treated equally — at least after the foreign goods have entered the market[xx]. The same should apply to foreign and domestic services, and to foreign and local trademarks, copyrights and patents. This principle of “national treatment” (giving others the same treatment as one’s own nationals) is also found in all the three main WTO agreements (Article 3 of GATT, Article 17 of GATS and Article 3 of TRIPS), although once again the principle is handled slightly differently in each of these. National treatment is a basic principle of GATT/WTO that prohibits discrimination between imported and domestically produced goods with respect to internal taxation or other government regulation. Yet this treatment is in conflict with the requirement of the same labor standard and wage rate.

Furthermore, it was reported that the Canadian government encouraged Bombardier to make a deal with Airbus for its C Series planes to thwart a potential venture with Chinese investors, according to five sources familiar with the matter. It signaled its preference for Airbus after Bombardier failed to reach an agreement with Boeing Co. earlier this year. Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains and Trade Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, as well as senior officials in Trudeau's office, made many calls in August and September to Bombardier and suggested the talk between the CEOs of Bombardier and Airbus, after the Trudeau administration took a calculated risk in steering Bombardier toward Airbus, according to the sources. Officials believed jobs or technology could be "siphoned away" to China. They also expressed uneasiness about what some saw as inadequate Chinese safeguards against intellectual property theft. The government's efforts eventually helped pave the way for an Oct. 16 agreement in which Airbus took a majority stake in the narrow-body, medium-range C Series jets for one dollar, which the Chinese side offered for more than $1 billion. Someone on Reddit commented that “Washington would have lost its shit” if Bombardier had merged with COMAC (the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd., a Chinese State-owned aerospace manufacturer established on 11 May 2008 in Shanghai, China). That would have been worth seeing - serves them right for being bullies. But the Airbus deal is good enough. The C-Series isn't going to end up in Lake Ontario like the Avro Arrow now[xxi]. However, for Bombardier, a tie-up with the Chinese (COMAC, Aviation Industry Corporation of China, a Chinese state-owned aerospace and defense company.founded in Beijing on November 6, 2008, and a third aviation company) would have offered access to the world's fastest-growing aviation market, providing a boost to its struggling C Series program[xxii], let alone the huge offer they made. It is reasonable to be wary of offending the US in the NAFTA talks, but totally ignoring China and abandoning China in the game will be a huge and serious mistake.

As for the stealing of jobs, that sounds much the same like Trump, who is no longer popular in international trade deals. While Chinese companies must obey Canadian laws and regulations while in Canada, it must be noted that Canada and China have different law systems and cultural norms, and China has committed to more and more international agreements, and it has been 17 years since China joined in WTO. The author does not believe it is a crime to export goods with comparative advantage in labor. Actually it is a blessing for Canadians as they can enjoy products at much less than it would otherwise be, and it makes the labor matrket more vibrant and competitive. Moreover, the Canadian side can ensure the quality by enhancing quarantine and inspection at the customs, let alone the labor cost difference is getting smaller and smaller. In international trade, a politically right thing can be toxic.

Another worry comes from the Chinese takeover of Canadian businesses. The government faced criticism for allowing the takeover of Norsat by Chinese-based Hytera Communications Co. Ltd. without a full national security review. Vancouver-based Norsat makes radio systems and transceivers used by the American military and other NATO partners[xxiii]. First, the Canadian government has a guideline for every key industry for foreign investors, and Chinese investors cannot bypass the guideline. Secondly, China is already a strategic partner with Canada, so what will not be allowed to a strategic partner? It can be seen that the census for a US takeover is more lenient, however, it may be worse to see Canadian buinesses taken over one by one by the Americans, as the Trump government is unpredictable, and the American takeover is like the case of boiling a frog in warm water.

As put by Trudeau, Canada needs to find “mutually beneficial” ways of dealing with challenges posed by China’s mixed economy that features powerful state-owned and private enterprises and could potentially expose Canadian companies to unfair competition[xxiv]. However, Canada also has a lot of crown companies which operate actively in Canada, are there rules which specifically limit their competition with private businesses? If Chinese state-owned businesses should be regulated in Canada, should Canadian crown companies be also regulated in China?

Media did cover Trudeau’s concern in the progressive trade agenda. It was because of Canada’s commitment “to pursuing trade that benefits everyone, that puts people first and reflects Canadian values, especially when it comes to the environment, labor, and gender.”[xxv] However, the author does not think it is different from the trade in which both small and big companies participate. For protection of small companies, one can find no avail with the free market economy. The government is the one to intervene, and measures should be taken to ensure that private businesses and individuals will not be take advantage of. Actually, Simon Kuznets considers inequality as a byproduct of economic growth and suggests that a relatively rich economy should also be less unequal. In contrast, Thomas Piketty indicates that inequality is progressing, and an internationally coordinated policy is required to bring inequality under control[xxvi]. Piketty argues that capitalism contains an inherent capacity to produce unequal societies. In order to rein this tendency, he suggests implementing a global wealth tax. More importantly, Piketty hopes that his work provokes discussion on wealth and inequality[xxvii]. How, then, can income dispersion be reduced?  According to Robert E. Lipsey, the effects of higher income and wage dispersion are moderated for the more tradable products[xxviii]. Therefore, internatioanl trade and product mobilization is a way to reduce income dispersion.

IV. Suggested Correction Measures

There are so many things which need to be corrected if you have read so far. Also, sometimes you can hardly change the impression of others once it is made. However, Canada needs to change, and the change should be initiated from the PM and the provinces. Sometimes the opportunity is like the flowing water, it is gone before one regrets.

Ø  Establish a long-term strategic partnership with China

Ø  Maintain an open and receptive attitude

Ø  Send envoys who have a solid friendship and good record with China on advance visits so as to lay stones for the foundation of a good relationship with China

Ø  Use professors and experts when dealing with China as Chinese value their advice

Ø  Use caution when speaking about or dealing with sensitive issues

Ø  Focus on critical issues and workable projects like the Free Trade Agreement and TPP (though Canada was the last one to join in)

Ø  Avoid blindly following the US in diplomatic policy

Ø  Promote civil diplomacy through businesses, non-profit organizations and professionals like athelets, singers and artists

V. Conclusion

China is of vital importance to Canada both to stimulate the economy and to achieve a new balance in the new world order. Understanding China’s political and economic system and the cultural norms and exploring the fields of cooperation will be mutually beneficial.

With many burning issues under debate, it is time for the government to do something to change for the better, and the spirit of the old Trudeau should once again come into play. Moreover, now is the right time to enhance the relationship with China, and a free trade agreement is in accordance with the strategc interest for both Canada and China.

                                                                                                            - Daniel Huang

加拿大在贸易中对中国应该采取什么态度？

- 对特鲁多2017年12月访华的思考

特鲁多在中国完成了为期5天的访问，但许多人质疑他在那里取得的成就。本文将探讨加中关系和中美关系的背景，简要回顾特鲁多在中国的访问情况，包括成绩、问题、错误和原因，最后提出一些修正措施。中国现在是加拿大第二大贸易伙伴，第三大旅游来源国和最大的国际学生来源地。通过与中国的自由贸易协定，到2030年加拿大国内生产总值将增加78亿美元。中国政府对自由贸易谈判持开放态度，相信在平等、相互尊重和互利的基础上，贸易关系将会得到改善。加拿大于2014年与韩国签署了自由贸易协定，中国刚刚与七国集团签署了一项协议，因此与加拿大达成自由贸易协议是去年以来经过四轮探索性会谈之后的正确选择。这一自由贸易协议将为更快、更有效地进入中国市场提供保证。加拿大和中国是相辅相成的，两国之间没有重大分歧。由于英国退出欧盟时，加拿大与英国的贸易关系就出现了阻滞。非贸易问题，例如对民主的承诺、法治、提高妇女权利和让其更多参与社会，可以稍后讨论，或者不与贸易问题捆绑在一起。事实上，女性现在在中国享有比男性更多的权利，就业率和尊重是世界上最高的。加拿大政府对中国文化与加拿大文化的差异以及中国的决策制度并不了解；而且，即使与中国讨价还价的筹码不多，但政府在建立关系方面并不灵活。官员认为，工作或技术可能被“吸走”到中国。但是，加拿大对某些关键行业都有投资指引，中国公司在加拿大必须遵守加拿大的法律法规，而且必须指出的是，虽然加拿大和中国的法律体系和文化规范不尽相同，中国也对越来越多的国际协议做出了承诺。在外贸方面，中国已经是（得以消费中国低价商品的）加拿大的战略合作伙伴，也是积极的世贸组织成员，享有国民待遇。当谈到中国的大型国有企业时，人们可能会忘记加拿大也有大型的皇家企业。在批评中国之前，应该看政府如何处理好贫富差距，大公司与小公司之间的收入差距。尽管以1美元收购庞巴迪公司的大部分股份可能是一个很好的举措，但忽视中国方面却是是战略上和经济上的重大失误。现在是与中国修好关系的最佳时刻，而中加自由贸易协定符合两国的战略利益。

关键词：进步贸易案，特鲁多，中国，劳工标准，外商投资，国民待遇

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[i] Jie Zhang: Canada’s China Policy walks out of “Segregation” with Trudeau’s Visit (in Chinese)? Chinese Theses Network, December 1, 2017.

[ii] Chris Fournier: Trudeau Defends ‘Progressive’ Trade Agenda as China Talks Sputter, Bloomberg Politics, please read the article by clicking the link as shown below

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-06/trudeau-says-had-progressive-talks-on-trade-with-china-s-xi.

[iii] Ran Bo: the Trudeau-Li talk went out of control, and the Sino-Canada talk is unpredictable (in Chinese), Chinese News, December 5, 2017, http://chinesenewsgroup.com/news/662850/.

[iv] Sino-Australia Free Trade Agreement (in Chinese), Baidu Encyclopaedia, http://wapbaike.baidu.com/item/中澳自由贸易协定.   

[v] Jake Evans: Chinese high school students allegedly bashed by youths at Canberra bus stop, ABC News, October 16, 2017, please read the stunning article by clicking the link below http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-27/chinese-high-school-students-allegedly-bashed-in-canberra/9090732.

[vi] Victor Mair: The Australian people have stood up, December 9, 2017, please click the link http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=35729.

[vii] Nick Craig: The EU-Canada Trade Model will Harm the UK (translated from the Chinese version to English, terms may vary), Financial Times, December 8, 2017, please see the article by clicking http://www.ftchinese.com/story/001075357.

[viii] Alex Ballingall: Trade, not human rights, is top of mind as Trudeau visits China, the Toronto Star, December 2, 2017, please see the link to the article https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/12/02/trade-not-human-rights-is-top-of-mind-as-trudeau-visits-china.html.

[ix] Alex Ballingall: Trade, not human rights, is top of mind as Trudeau visits China, the Toronto Star, December 2, 2017, please see the link to the article https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/12/02/trade-not-human-rights-is-top-of-mind-as-trudeau-visits-china.html.

[x] The PM of Canada Trudeau enlisted fans in a high profile but came back empty-handed - you will get unhappy if you dig in (in Chinese), December10, 2017, please read the article by clicking the link https://mp.weicin.qq.com/s/WafXCO-u1pu9nDaXEJslpQ.

[xi] What on earth made China turn against the Canadian PM? This is the correct answer (in Chinese)! This is Canada, December 9, 2017, please read the article by clicking the link https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/dcxO9CRygrsM9nH-wMD_4A.

[xii] What on earth made China turn against the Canadian PM? This is the correct answer (in Chinese)! This is Canada, December 9, 2017, please read the article by clicking the link https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/dcxO9CRygrsM9nH-wMD_4A.

[xiii] Wang Yi: Speech Delivered at the Opening Ceremony of the Symposium on the International Situation and Chinese Diplomacy in 2017 (in Chinese), Ministry of the Foreign Affairs of the PRC, December 9, 2017, http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/web/wjbzhd/t1518042.shtml.

[xiv] Why free trade talks with China failed, Vancouver Observer, December 7, 2017, https://www.vancouverobserver.com/politics/commentary/why-free-trade-talks-china-failed.

[xv] Jonathan Manthorpe: Thudeau Blew It in Beijing: That’s the Good News, iPolitics, December 5, 2017, please click the link https://ipolitics.ca/2017/12/05/trudeau-blew-beijing-thats-good-news/.

[xvi] The PM of Canada Trudeau enlisted fans in a high profile but came back empty-handed - you will get unhappy if you dig in (in Chinese), December10, 2017, please read the article by clicking the link https://mp.weicin.qq.com/s/WafXCO-u1pu9nDaXEJslpQ.

[xvii] Ran Bo: the Trudeau-Li talk went out of control, and the Sino-Canada talk is unpredictable (in Chinese), Chinese News, December 5, 2017, http://chinesenewsgroup.com/news/662850/.

[xviii] Jonathan Manthorpe: Thudeau Blew It in Beijing: That’s the Good News, iPolitics, December 5, 2017, https://ipolitics.ca/2017/12/05/trudeau-blew-beijing-thats-good-news/.

[xix] Colby Cosh: Why Trudeau got taken from a ride in China, National Post, December 8, 2017; Trudeau’s ‘progressive’ trade agenda with China seen as arrogant, says critics, CBC, December 8, 2017.

[xx] WTO: Principles of the trading system, please read the article by clicking the link https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/fact2_e.htm.

[xxi] Please take time to read the comments by clicking the link as shown below https://www.reddit.com/r/canada/comments/78rulo/ottawa_pushed_bombardier_to_partner_with_airbus/.

[xxii] Thomson Reuters: Ottawa pushed Bombardier to partner with Airbus after Chinese merger was considered, CBC News, October 25, 2017, please take time to read the article by clicking http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/c-series-bombardier-airbus-1.4370696.

[xxiii] The PM of Canada Trudeau enlisted fans in a high profile but came back empty-handed - you will get unhappy if you dig in (in Chinese), December10, 2017, please read the article by clicking the link https://mp.weicin.qq.com/s/WafXCO-u1pu9nDaXEJslpQ.

[xxiv] Levon Sevunts: Justin Trudeau leaves China without securing start of free trade talks, Radio Canada International, December 7, 2017, please read the article by clicking the link http://www.rcinet.ca/en/2017/12/07/justin-trudeau-leaves-china-start-free-trade-negotiations/.

[xxv] Charlotte Gao: Did Canada's Trudeau Really Fail in His Trip to China? The Diplomat, December 7, 2017, please take time to read the article by clicking the link https://thediplomat.com/2017/12/did-canadas-trudeau-really-fail-in-his-trip-to-china/.

[xxvi] Ivan Lyubimov: Income inequality revisited 60 years later: Piketty vs Kuznets, Russian Journal of Economics, Volume 3, Issue 1, March 2017, Pages 42, please also see the webpage http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S240547391730003X#aep-article-footnote-id1.

[xxvii] Asad Abbasi: After Piketty: The Agenda for Economics and Inequality, LSE Review of Books, October 8, 2017, http://blogs.lse.ac.UK/politicsandpolicy/book-review-after-piketty/.

[xxviii] Robert E. Lipsey, etc: Explaining Product Price Differences Across Countries, NBER Working Paper No. 13239, issued in July 2007, http://www.nber.org/papers/w13239.