On September 24, 2018 local time, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland of Canada on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Both sides mainly exchanged views on hotspot issues in the field of international economy and trade.

Wang Yi emphasized that unilateralism and protectionism in the world today are on the rise, and multilateralism the international community has long pursued faces severe challenges. China firmly supports free trade and the rules-based global trading system. If the international rules are undermined, the world will return to the law of the jungle, and all countries will suffer a lot from it. In particular, small and medium-sized countries bear the brunt. China and Canada share similar positions in maintaining multilateralism. Against the current situation, we should work together with various countries to jointly utter the voice of adhering to multilateralism, abiding by the international rules, and maintaining the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization (WTO) as the core.

Wang Yi said that the Chinese side agrees that the WTO should keep pace with the times. At the same time, we believe that reform should be conducive to safeguarding the core values and basic principles of the WTO and to safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests and reasonable concerns of developing countries. The WTO reform involves the immediate interests of all members. We should adhere to thorough consultation and seek the broadest consensus so that we can win the strong support of the international community.

Chrystia Freeland noted that Canada attaches importance to its relations with China and is committed to deepening cooperation with China. Canada agrees on the maintenance of multilateralism and multilateral system, which is of great importance to Canada. The world can no longer return to the law of the jungle. Canada will continue to advocate the international rule of law and multilateral rules in international affairs and the settlement of disputes through consultation on the premise of equality and mutual respect. The Canadian side is willing to maintain close communication with the Chinese side on the issue of the WTO reform.