China and Canada ready to get back on the right track

State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on Friday for the mutual respect, understanding and mutual trust between China and Canada, so as to promote getting bilateral relations back on the right track.

Speaking to Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly on the sidelines of the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Bali, Indonesia, Wang said a healthy and stable relationship between China and Canada was the common aspiration of the two peoples and in line with the shared interests between the two countries.

He stressed the two nations were never rivals, but partners and China never posed threats, but represented opportunities.

Canada should take a long-term perspective, get rid of misunderstanding and meet China halfway, Wang said, while hoping Ottawa respects facts and treads carefully on China-related issues.

As the two countries advocated multilateralism and globalization as well as supported democracy in international relations, Wang said China and Canada could have more coordination to garner more positive energy.

Efforts could be made to jointly promote the success of the second phase of the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity and strengthen anti-pandemic cooperation, he added.

Joly said Canada attached importance to its ties with China and was willing to work with Beijing to respect each other, strengthen communication and address common concerns with a pragmatic attitude to bring bilateral relations back on the right track.

She noted that the two countries benefited a lot from close economic and trade exchanges and also maintained close coordination and cooperation in multilateral affairs such as climate change and biodiversity.

Canada supported multilateralism and advocated abiding by the principles and purposes of the United Nations Charter, she said.

At the critical moment when global peace and security are faced with challenges, she said Canada hoped China, being a permanent member of the UN Security Council, could play an important role.