Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrived here Wednesday for an official visit to Canada, the first by a Chinese premier in 13 years.

Li's visit was at the invitation of his Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau, who just paid an official visit to China and attended the G20 Hangzhou summit from Aug. 30 to Sept. 6.

It is the second stop of Li's trip after he attended the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Li will also visit Cuba later.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Li Baodong said last week that the premier's visit to Canada showed the importance of the development of bilateral relations between the two countries, and it will inject strong impetus for future development.

China-Canada relations have been strengthened thanks to the joint efforts of the two sides. During Trudeau's visit to China, the two sides announced the establishment of the annual dialogue mechanism.

The two countries also established the China-Canada High-Level National Security and Rule of Law Dialogue during Trudeau's visit, and Canada announced that it had decided to apply for the membership of China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

Source : XINHUA