On October 31, Chinese Ambassador to Canada H.E. Wang Di conducted an exclusive interview with CTV in Power Play, in which Ambassador Wang elaborated on the meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on the sidelines of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in the Republic of Korea. Below is the full script of the interview.

Power Play: Ambassador Wang Di, welcome to Power Play. Thank you so much for joining us.

Ambassador Wang: Thank you for having me with you.

Power Play: Many Canadians were watching that meeting between Prime Minister Carney and President Xi today, wondering if there was an agreement that did come out of this. So I wanna know — following the meeting, is China any closer to removing those tariffs on Canadian canola and other products?

Ambassador Wang: The meeting was very important and very  successful. It provided a very important opportunity to bring bilateral relations between our two countries back on the right track of sound, stable, and sustainable development and deliver more benefits to our two peoples. During their meeting, President Xi and Prime Minister Carney reached very important consensus. Both sides agreed to work together to restart exchanges and cooperation across various fields, move forward in solving economic and trade issues of each other’s concern, consolidate the momentum in the turnaround of our relations, and jointly advance the China-Canada strategic partnership. China is ready to work with Canada to implement the important consensus reached by the two leaders and lift our strategic partnership to a higher level, which will provide real benefits to our two peoples. Thank you!

Power Play: When you say that your government is ready to work with the Canadian government, does that work include on removing tariffs on both sides?

Ambassador Wang: The tariff issue, I think, does not represent the whole relationship between China and Canada. As I mentioned, during their meeting, the two leaders were talking about how to promote our strategic partnership and expand our practical cooperation in various fields, and how to move forward in solving each other’s concerns about tariff issues and other issues. So I think with good and very clear political wills and with very strong and solid determination, both sides will find appropriate solutions to address the issues between the two sides.

Power Play: I can appreciate how you are saying that those tariffs are not everything that encompasses that relationship between Canada and China. But for a lot of Canadians, that is the main roadblock to continuing those conversations and to moving forward, as you have put it as well. Were there any indications from the Canadian government that they conveyed to the Chinese side that they intend to lift any kinds of tariffs on Chinese products, like the Chinese EVs that have a 100 percent tariff?

Ambassador Wang: As I have said, the tariff issue is part of the issues discussed by the two sides. I think, first of all, the two sides talked about how to lift our strategic partnership to a higher level, and that will be a wider framework for both sides to discuss many issues. How to increase trust after several years of difficulties in our relations? How to expand our practical cooperation in various areas? How to strengthen people-to-people exchanges, which will provide very strong support for public opinions for better bilateral relations. There are a lot of homework that should be done after the very important meeting between the two leaders.

Power Play: So how much of that homework is to look at a path towards both sides removing tariffs?

Ambassador Wang: Both sides now have very close exchanges and connections on these issues. Just as the two leaders agreed, both sides will keep working very hard to find a solution for these tariff issues.

Power Play: Did both leaders agree that they will charge their side and their colleagues within their government to chart a path forward towards removing those tariffs? Was that one of the outcomes of this meeting?

Ambassador Wang: Sure. Prime Minister Mark Carney has said that two leaders will direct officials from both sides to continue discussing about tariff issues and other issues. 

Power Play: In a statement that came after the meeting, President Xi talked about how China-Canada relations have achieved a recovery and “positive development momentum”. Concretely, what do you want that momentum to build towards? Where do you see this relationship going?

Ambassador Wang: As President Xi Jinping underscored in this meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney, China and Canada should develop an objective and rational perception of each other, view each other in a correct way and advance the bilateral relations in light of the common and long-term interests of both countries. I think this is very important.

And also, China and Canada should uphold mutual benefits and expand practical cooperation in the economy, trade and energy, which has become a new growth point for our trade relations. Also, the two sides should increase people-to-people exchanges. The two sides also share many common views on international affairs, so we should strengthen coordination and cooperation in the United Nations and other multilateral frameworks, bring about a more just and equitable global governance system and uphold international fairness and justice.

Power Play: In terms of the relationship moving forward, Prime Minister Carney has said that, speaking to a business crowd at the summit, he wants to double non-U.S. exports out of Canada over the next decade. Would China like to double their imports from Canada?

Ambassador Wang: I want to make it very clear that China has taken a very open and positive approach to expand our economic and trade cooperation with Canada. Actually, China and Canada have many great complementarities in terms of resource endowments and economic structures. So, during the 55 years of our diplomatic ties, China and Canada have achieved many fruitful outcomes in the trade area. If we look at the next 50 years, I think there will be more and more opportunities we can seize to explore more cooperation in this area for our two countries.

Power Play: But do you have an idea of how much more China would like to expand with Canada going forward as a result of this meeting maybe into next year or the year after? Do you want to see an increase in Canadian imports into China?

Ambassador Wang: I think it depends on the market and on whether the products have enough competitiveness or not? What I look forward to is not only doubling our trade. If both sides have enough capabilities and have enough competitive products, why not make this trade triple than what we already have now?

Power Play: The day before the meeting that Prime Minister Carney had with President Xi, there was one between U.S. President Donald Trump and President Xi. It lasted twice as long as the meeting with Canada, and they came out of it with very specific results. Why were there not similar results out of the meeting between Prime Minister Carney and President Xi?

Ambassador Wang: As I just said, the meeting between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Mark Carney was very successful and achieved many outcomes and reached many important consensuses. Both sides are now working very hard to implement these consensuses, so I’m sure more and more good news is on the way.

Power Play: OK, Chinese Ambassador to Canada Wang Di, thank you so much for joining us.

Ambassador Wang: Thank you.