BEIJING - Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper's visit to China was very successful and marked a milestone for Sino-Canadian ties, said ambassador David Mulroney in an exclusive interview with China Daily.

Harper paid a five-day visit to China from Feb 7 to 11 with a delegation of five ministers and 40 business leaders.

Canada wanted to take the relationship with China to a higher level of strategic partnership, and has met its objectives of deepening economic ties, communicating with Chinese leadership, and promoting cultural exchanges, said the ambassador.

"We demonstrated a very strong foundation for the future… The most important thing is that we had the great opportunity to talk about Canada and to explain Canada to Chinese friends… We created a very strong and powerful public image of China in Canada," he said.

During his visit, Harper and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao witnessed the signing of nine deals, including a Memorandum of Understanding on energy cooperation and other deals in science and technology, as well as academic exchanges.

China is Canada's second-largest trading partner. Bilateral trade stood at almost $50 billion in 2011. The two countries set a target of increasing bilateral trade to $60 billion by 2015.

Sino-Canadian ties will be further boosted by the signing of the Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA), whose conclusion was announced by Harper during his visit.

The ambassador said that every time he goes back to Canada, businessmen stress the necessity of FIPA with China. The FIPA will give them protection and confidence and is good for investors and businessmen of both countries, Mulroney said.

FIPA negotiations between China and Canada began in 1994 but for years made little progress.

Both countries will need to conduct a legal review of the agreement but it will take effect soon, the ambassador said.