Prime Minister Justin Trudeau leaves for first official visit to China
OTTAWA — More than four decades after his father first began paving the way in the 1970s, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrived in China early Tuesday to begin his first official visit there, with both countries keen to forge ever-stronger economic ties.
Trudeau, travelling with wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau and seven-year-old daughter Ella-Grace, said last week that he hopes the visit provides the opportunity to “reset” the relationship between the two countries.
China, the world’s new economic superpower, sees the dawn of a new Trudeau era in Canada as a “new opportunity” to strengthen ties between the two countries, Chinese ambassador Luo Zhaohui said in an interview last week.
Canada’s relationship with China under the Harper government was at times inconsistent, many experts say. Historically, Luo acknowledged China has had warmer connections with Canada’s Liberal-led governments.