Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to rise in the House to welcome Chinese Premier Li on his visit to Ottawa today.
Earlier this month, I also had the privilege of joining our Prime Minister on his successful first official visit to China, where we worked to build the foundation for a stronger, more stable Canada-China relationship.
Canada is back on the world stage, and it is critical that we engage with the world's second-largest economy and our second-biggest trading partner to promote sustainable growth and investment.
In Shanghai, 56 agreements worth over $1.2 billion were signed between Canadian and Chinese companies. These contracts will not only benefit industries like Canadian beef and tourism, but they will also help create jobs, strengthen our middle class, and generate long-lasting people-to-people ties between our two countries.
Through international engagement, our nations can only become stronger as we work together to address global challenges like climate change.
Canada does better when it is open to the world. Today, we welcome China.