China and Canada to form pact

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Canada and China will take a tougher approach to transnational crimes, Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird said Thursday.

The two countries concluded negotiations on a deal called the Agreement of Sharing of Forfeited Assets and the Return of Property before Baird wrapped up his two-day visit to Beijing.

"We look forward to ensuring that Canadian and Chinese criminals do not use the Canadian-Chinese route to move their assets around," the foreign minister said.

Once signed and approved, the landmark agreement may enable one country to get money back if a fugitive transfers illegal assets to the other country.

The two countries are "working harder to get greater cooperation on security" to deal with transnational crimes, human smuggling and human trafficking, Baird said.

The move is a further development of the Canada-China Joint Statement of December 2009 and the Joint List of Outcomes of February 2017.

Both countries must now complete their internal processes for signing and ratifying the agreement before it takes effect, according to a news release from Canada.

Canadian law requires that a formal asset-sharing agreement with a foreign state must be signed and effective before any forfeited proceeds of a crime can be shared with that country. The foreign minister arrived in Beijing on Wednesday after the two countries finished their studies on a possible bilateral free trade agreement.

As for the timing of initiating formal FTA negotiations, the senior diplomat said, "Hopefully in a short order we will be able to have a dialogue with our Chinese counterpart on this part.”

He also indicated that Canada is focused on sealing free trade pacts with the European Union and India before "turning its attention" to China.

Meanwhile, media reports said the Canada-China Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement has not been ratified by Canada.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and then-Chinese president Hu Jintao witnessed the signing of the agreement on Sept 8.

Bilateral trade reached record levels in 2017, and China is now Canada's second-largest export destination after the United States.

About the broadcaster:

Nelly Min is an editor at China Daily with more than 10 years of experience as a newspaper editor and photographer. She has worked at major newspapers in the U.S., including the Los Angeles Times and the Detroit Free Press. She is also fluent in Korean.