OTTAWA -- China-Canada relations have improved steadily since last year, and the two sides will take advantage of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's visit to Canada to expand the scale of bilateral economic and trade cooperation, said Chinese ambassador to Canada Luo Zhaohui.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau kicked off a visit to China with stops in Beijing and Shanghai before attending the G20 Summit held in the eastern city of Hangzhou. Premier Li's official visit to Canada later this week comes within less than a month of Trudea's trip to China.

"Such a frequent exchange of visits in a short period of time is indeed rare in the history of China's foreign relations," Luo told Xinhua.

Despite some previous setbacks, China-Canada ties have improved steadily since the Liberal Party of Canada took office last November, which can be summarized in four ways, Luo said.

The first involves political exchanges between China and Canada.

Last November, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Trudeau on the sidelines of the G20 Summit held in Turkey and suggested building a long-term, healthy and stable strategic partnership with Canada on the basis of mutual respect and win-win cooperation.

Last October, Li congratulated Trudeau on his election as Canadian prime minister after his Liberal Party won a landslide victory in Canada's federal elections.

During his first official visit to China and his attendance at the G20 Hangzhou Summit earlier this month, Trudeau enjoyed a high-level reception and hailed a new era in China-Canada relations. The two countries also agreed to establish an annual dialogue between the Chinese premier and Canadian prime minister.

Secondly, pragmatic cooperation between China and Canada has achieved steady growth.

China is Canada's second largest trading partner, a source of imports and a market for exports. Last year, bilateral trade reached $55.7 billion, more than 370 times the amount at the beginning of diplomatic ties decades ago.