With the elimination of the political obstacles to their normal development, Sino-Canadian ties are enjoying a warm spring

Despite the cold weather, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's visit to China can be seen as a "warm spring trip". Since Harper's first visit to China in 2009, Sino-Canadian relations have registered substantial progress.

On the basis of the China-Canada Joint Statement, bilateral mutual trust has gradually been restored and economic, trade and investment ties have grown dramatically. There are also active cultural and academic exchanges.

President Hu Jintao's visit to Canada in 2010, the meeting of the two leaders on the sidelines of the Hawaii Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit last year, and Harper's visit to China suggested that the Sino-Canadian strategic partnership has entered a new period of comprehensive improvement.

The warming Sino-Canadian relations have benefited from the Harper government's abandoning of its prejudice against China, and its return to the policy of friendship toward China.

Canada was one of the first Western powers to establish diplomatic relations with China. In 1970, then prime minister Pierre Trudeau withstood pressure from the United States and opened the door to relations with China.

Harper has eliminated political obstacles to the normal development of bilateral relations and showed a cooperative attitude in the field of justice and law enforcement, paving the way for the warming-up of Sino-Canadian relations. After the 2011 election, the Harper government consolidated its power, and it has become more confident in dealing with domestic and foreign affairs, as well as more rational and pragmatic in handling relations with China.

Warming relations between Beijing and Ottawa are necessary for the two countries to deepen mutually beneficial economic and trade cooperation during the financial crisis and beyond. Ottawa sees China as a new engine to boost its economic growth and has set up additional trade offices in China, speeded up the building of a trade corridor under the "Pacific Gateway" and actively attracted Chinese investment. In the context of faltering economic recovery in the US and Europe, China has actively expanded its market in Canada to stabilize exports.

According to Chinese customs statistics, the bilateral trade volume has increased by 60 percent over the past two years, totaling $47.45 billion in 2011. China is Canada's second largest trading partner, second largest source of imports and third largest export market.

The Sino-Canadian trade structure is highly complementary, which indicates that the two countries have great potential for cooperation. In addition to traditional trade, bilateral cooperation in areas ranging from energy, tourism, finance, education and culture are also is in full swing.

The enhancement of Sino-Canadian relations is an inevitable result of the international power shift. The relative decline of Western powers and collective rising of emerging market countries has made it necessary for Western countries to deepen their cooperation with developing countries. The eastward shift of the US' strategic center of gravity is bound up with the expansion of exports to the Asia-Pacific region.

As both the US and Europe are struggling with their own economic woes they are unable to provide Canada with robust economic growth and more employment opportunities. Enlisting help from emerging markets such as China is undoubtedly a wise move for Canada.

In recent years, Canada has shifted its global trade focus to the Asia-Pacific region. The economic development of China, India, Brazil and other countries in the region has become a strategic opportunity for Canada's sustained growth.

The strengthening of Sino-Canadian relations is in line with the domestic requirements of both countries and the shifting of international power. However, in the context of the US' "return" to the Asia-Pacific region and increasingly fierce Sino-US competition, warming China-Canada relations will inevitably be frowned upon by some political forces in the US.

In fact, the US, which has a major influence on Canada's politics, economy, and diplomatic and security relations, need not be nervous about Canada's economic and diplomatic approach to China. Canada does not want to harm the US' strategic interests and if warming Sino-Canadian relations can quell the US' impulse to contain China, it would be a blessing for peoples in China, the US and Canada.

As long as the two sides can settle their differences with mutual respect and wisdom, Sino-Canadian relations can become a model of win-win relations between countries with different social systems, different levels of development, and different development models.

The author is a scholar with the Institute of American Studies, China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

(China Daily 02/07/2012 page8)