Canada PM Trudeau to mount charm offensive in China: officials
 

OTTAWA: Canadian Prime Minister will tour the Great Wall, shoot hoops with retired basketball star Yao Ming and host a roundtable of women entrepreneurs when he travels to China next week to bolster trade and diplomatic ties, his ****** said Friday.

There will be bilateral meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and senior government officials during the August 30 to September 6 trip, which includes stops in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Trudeau also will travel to Hangzhou for the summit of leaders of the Group of 20 eco**mic powers on September 4 and 5.

But average Chinese citizens can also expect to see the playful political leader pose for selfies with locals, and reach out to them directly through social media -- as he has done everywhere he has gone since being elected to Canada´s highest ****** last year.

"The prime minister has a WeChat and Weibo account and we will be using these during the trip," a senior government official said.

The trip is being made at the invitation of Premier Li Keqiang, but comes amid a handful of trade irritants and other stresses in the relationship.

These include Chinese plans to impose new rules on ca**la imports to protect against crop disease that risks Can$2 billion worth of annual Canadian oilseed sales to China.

Canadian Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland, who will be accompanying Trudeau, said this week that the bilateral relationship could **t improve until the matter is resolved.

The detention of Canadian citizen Kevin Garratt in 2014 on espionage charges also looms over the visit. He had run a Christian-themed coffee shop near the **rth Korean border.

"This trip is an important moment in Canada-China relations. We´ve had an ad hoc relationship until **w... (and) this is really about creating a longterm, more stable relationship," a senior government official said at a news briefing.

"Canada´s future prosperity is increasingly tied to China," the official said. "To grow its eco**my... it´s imperative that Canada renew its relationship with China."

Trudeau will also seek cooperation with China on climate change and other global issues, press for increased tourism from China, and in a speech to Chinese business leaders call for investment in Canada.

He will meet privately with managers of the Chinese conglomerate Fosun, which purchased a mi**rity stake in Montreal-based Cirque du Soleil last year.



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