Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday departed from southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region after attending celebrations for the region's 60th founding anniversary.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, was given a warm send-off as crowds lined the streets of the regional capital Lhasa to see his motorcade pass by.
Local people gathered at the airport to see Xi off and held aloft traditional Tibetan silk scarves known as the hada, which symbolizes purity and auspiciousness.
Xi had earlier attended a grand gathering and parade held at the Potala Palace square on Thursday morning, with around 20,000 local officials and people from all ethnic groups and all walks of life joining in the celebration.
Instructed by Xi, a central delegation led by Wang Huning will visit and convey greetings to people of all ethnic groups and from all sectors of society in Xizang from Thursday to Saturday.
Xi leaves Xizang after attending region's 60th founding anniversary celebrations
Xi leaves Xizang after attending region's 60th founding anniversary celebrations
Xi leaves Xizang after attending region's 60th founding anniversary celebrations
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's official visit to China signals a policy shift towards building a more pragmatic relationship between the two countries, according to a Canadian researcher.
Carney arrived in Beijing on Wednesday to begin an official visit to China through Saturday, which marks the first trip by a Canadian Prime Minister to the country in eight years.
Robert Hanlon, director and principal investigator of Canada and the Asia Pacific Policy Project (CAPPP) at Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia, told the China Global Television Network (CGTN) that Carney's visit indicates Canada is recalibrating its strategic perception of China, which could cement the foundation for the country's economic diversification efforts and boost the development of bilateral cooperation.
"I think it's a clear message that he has moved Canada's strategy to a much more pragmatic, interest-based, -focused relationship with our trading partners, moving away from values-based narratives that we might have heard on previous governments. Canada has spoken about moving from what the Prime Minister's Office is calling "from reliance to resilience", and that means diversifying our economies and our trade everywhere in the world. And so China being our second largest trading partner, it makes perfect sense for our PM to head to Beijing," he said.
The scholar also noted the huge cooperation potential between the two sides in economic and trade fields, citing Canada's efforts to step up shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and the planned construction of an oil pipeline in Alberta which aims to increase export access to Asian markets. "Canada and China both share tremendous economic opportunities together and so finding ways to enhance our exports. Canada specifically looking to build out its LNG and oil, kind of export market. We know Canada is a major producer of critical minerals and China is a buyer. And so there's a lot of synergy between that kind of those kind of markets," he said.
Canadian PM's visit to China paves way for more pragmatic trade ties: scholar
