On October 10, 2018, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held telephone talks at request with Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland of Canada.

Briefing Wang Yi on the situation of signing the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), Chrystia Freeland expressed that the free trade agreement should be open and inclusive, and should not exclude any partner. The USMCA should also not harm any country’s legitimate rights and interests. The Canadian side will promote the negotiation on free trade agreement with other countries based on its own conditions. The Canadian side hopes to continue upholding the rules-based multilateral trading system with all countries including China, and opposes trade protectionism. The Canadian side hopes to strengthen strategic partnership and expand exchanges and cooperation in various fields with the Chinese side.

Wang Yi noted that China has always upheld free trade, advocated maintaining the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization as the core, and opposed protectionism in any form and practice of double standards under any cover. Any attempt to stop China’s modernization is doomed to fail. It is hoped that the Canadian side will, together with the Chinese side, take practical actions to safeguard global free trade system and promote the construction process of the China-Canada free trade zone.