Transcription
All right. Good afternoon, Beijing. It has been a historic and productive two days during which myself and fellow ministers have had the opportunity to meet with President Xi, Premier Lee, Chairman Jiao, as well as business leaders across a number of key sectors. And I am very pleased to announce that we have made significant progress in a number of key areas.
Stepping back, it's been 8 years since a Canadian prime minister visited China. And in that time, the world has changed dramatically. The technological revolution and the energy transition are accelerating at an unprecedented pace. The global trading system is undergoing a fundamental change, and the effectiveness of multilateral institutions on which trading powers such as Canada and China have greatly relied, that effectiveness has been greatly reduced. This is happening fast. It's large. It's a rupture. It's not a transition. What we do now is Canada. How we position ourselves in the world will shape our future for decades to come. Canada can thrive in a new system. But to do so, we must be ambitious. We must work at speed and scale to find new partners, to diversify our trade, and attract unprecedented levels of investment in our country. And we must be pragmatic. That means we have to understand the differences between Canada and other countries, and then focus our efforts to work together where we're aligned.
And it's with this approach that Canada is forging a new strategic partnership with China. China is the world's second largest economy. It contributes one-third to global growth. It's our second largest trading partner and our third largest investor. Two-way trade between our countries amounts to nearly $120 billion a year. There are 400,000 careers across Canada. Farmers in the prairies, manufacturers and engineers in Ontario and Quebec, fish harvesters in Atlantic Canada and British Columbia. They are all supported by trade with China. $20 billion in wages are earned each year by Canadians because of our existing trade relationship. And this is a relationship that has been distant and uncertain for nearly a decade. That has held back investment. It's stalled business growth and cost Canadian workers good opportunities. And it has had the consequence of leaving us even more dependent on our largest trading partner. And that's why immediately after the election, Canada's new government began to recalibrate our relationship with China, strategically, pragmatically, and decisively. The dialogue constructive, nominus. Ours is a long-standing relationship. Canada was one of the first Western nations to recognize China in 1970. Over many decades, Chinese Canadians have helped build communities in every part of our country, from dynamic small businesses to schools and hospitals, straight through to innovation across advanced technologies. Foreom, please. There are two million Canadians of Chinese descent, leaders across commerce, technology, and culture. Mandarin is Canada's fourth most spoken language. There is much to protect in this relationship, and much on which to build, and much to be gained. So leveraging our strengths and focusing on areas of alignment, Canada and China can create greater stability, security, and prosperity for both our nations.
And to that end, President Xi and I are announcing that Canada and China are forging a new strategic partnership. It will focus on five key areas where both our nations stand to make substantial and sustained gains. The first is in clean energy and climate competitiveness, areas where Canada and China have immense strengths and complimentary strengths. Second, we're expanding trade, particularly in agriculture and food, where Canada is a reliable partner. Third, our commitment to multilateralism and strengthening global governance comes at a time when all of this is in flux. Fourth, we're deepening engagement in public safety and security to protect our peoples. And finally, people-to-people ties and culture are being enhanced to enrich our lives.
To begin, we're leveraging our strengths in energy, clean tech, and climate competitiveness. Canada is an energy superpower in both conventional and clean energies. We have an over 80% clean electricity grid with vast potential to power the clean economy of the future. Electrical partnology energy up. Can China's strengths in the electric vehicle sector are undeniable. China produces some of the most affordable and efficient energy, energy-efficient vehicles in the world. And in order for Canada to build our own competitive EV sector, we need to learn from innovative partners, access their supply chains, and increase local demand. And to help deliver the full potential of these partnerships and bring down costs for Canadians, Canada has agreed to allow up to 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles into the Canadian market with the most favored nation tariff rate of 6.1%. This is a return to the levels that existed prior to recent trade frictions, but it's a return under an agreement that promises much more for Canadians. It's expected that within 3 years, this agreement will drive considerable Chinese investment in Canada's auto sector, creating good careers in Canada and accelerating our progress towards a net-zero future and the auto industry of the future. With this agreement, it's also anticipated that within 5 years, more than 50% of these vehicles will be affordable EVs with an import price of less than $35,000.
Over the next 15 years, Canada intends to double our energy grid through major investments in hydro, nuclear, solar, and wind power. That creates tremendous opportunities for Chinese partnerships in these investments, including in energy storage and offshore wind. On the other hand, Canada is developing our oil and natural gas reserves, one of the world's largest, to be the lowest risk, lowest cost, and lowest carbon. Last June, we exported our first LG shipment to Asia. And we're scaling up quickly, making major investments and streamlining approvals. By 2030, Canada will produce 50 million tons of LG each year, all of which will be destined for Asian markets.
The second pillar of our strategic partnership aims to increase trade directly between Canada and China. Our agricultural cooperation built the foundation of our bilateral relationship. For more than six decades, Canada has been a reliable partner for China in food exports. Canadians export more than $7 billion in agricultural products to China each year. China used to be the largest market for Canadian canola seed. We want to not just return to those levels, but to surpass them. And so I'm pleased today to announce that Canada and China have reached a preliminary but landmark trade agreement to remove trade barriers and reduce tariffs. By March the 1st, Canada expects that China will lower tariffs on Canadian canola seed to a combined rate of approximately 15%. China is a $4 billion canola seed market for Canadian producers, and this change represents a significant drop from the current combined tariff levels of 84%. Furthermore, Canada expects that Canadian canola meal, as well as Canadian lobsters, crabs, and peas, will not be subject to relevant anti-discrimination tariffs from March 1st of this year until at least the end of this year. Together, these results will unlock nearly $3 billion of export orders for Canadian farmers, fish harvesters, and processors as they realize the full potential of this market of 1.4 billion people. With this agreement, we also expect to see a resolution of many long-term obstacles for a range of important agricultural sectors, from beef to pet food. Service. We welcome Chinese business plans to significantly scale up their investment in Canada in major clean energy projects, as well as in agriculture and consumer projects. And by building this new strategic partnership, we're creating the stability and certainty needed to catalyze new investment and opportunities for Canadian workers.
Both Canada and China are strong advocates of multilateralism. The leadership to Canada, the notate competitivity. Can China will be the host of APEC this year, and Canada stands ready to support their agenda focused on strengthening and reinvigorating the multilateral system. Canada appreciates China's support for our bid to host the Apex Leader Summit in 2029.
The fourth pillar of our new strategic partnership is public safety and security. And this is an area where pragmatic and constructive engagement with China is crucial. Through this pillar, our law enforcement agencies will increase cooperation to better combat narcotics trafficking, transnational crime, cyber crime, synthetic drugs, and moneyaundering. And we will create safer communities for people in both our countries.
And finally, people have always been at the core of this relationship. As I said, Canada's home to a Chinese diaspora of 2 million. Over 300,000 Chinese visitors came to Canada in 2024. China is Canada's second largest source of tourism. So the fifth pillar of this partnership will build on opportunities for cultural exchanges and partnerships that further deepen our people-to-people ties. That means museums, digital content creators, visual artists, and other creative professionals in our respective countries will have new opportunities to collaborate. It also means more tourism, including following China's decision in November to grant approved destination status for group travelers to Canada. And we're building on this progress, looking to increase travel exchange and deepen our cultural ties. I'm very pleased to share that President Xi, in our meeting today, has committed to ensuring visa-free access for Canadians traveling to China.
We're different countries. We have different systems, different histories, different perspectives. Yet, we have much in common. And when we focus on our strengths and we focus our ambition towards those areas where we have the most in common, Canada and China have done great things. In the mid-1980s, our bilateral trade was roughly $2 billion. In just two decades, that increased to $30 billion. Through periods of global tension and disruption, we've created more opportunities for our workers, businesses, and investors by working together. And with this new strategic partnership, that's the opportunity before us now. It's a partnership that reflects the world as it is today, with an engagement that's realistic, respectful, and interest-based. The work in the recent months, the discussions and the meetings over the past two days have not been a question of putting things back on track. It's been more a question of designing new tracks that will benefit the people of both our countries. For a confidence, pragmatism, ambition. In a world of increasing uncertainty, Canada's building with speed, confidence, and determination. We're forging new partnerships around the world. We're diversifying trade, over a dozen new agreements across four country continents in recent months. We're attracting record levels of new investment in order to unleash $1 trillion of investment in the Canadian economy over the next 5 years. We're building a web of new connections with China to create transformative opportunities for Canadian workers, build more stability, more certainty, and prosperity on both sides of the Pacific.
And with that, I very much look forward to your questions. Thank you very much.
>> Thank you, Prime Minister. First question, T. We'll do one question, one followup. Uh, Tonda McCharles, Toronto Star, right here. Prime Minister.