China calls on Canada to provide fair, open, non-discriminatory market environment

BEIJING, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- China calls on Canada to provide fair, open and non-discriminatory market environment for enterprises from all countries including China to invest in Canada, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Wednesday.

Spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a daily press briefing when responding to a question that Canada rejected a Chinese enterprise's plan to acquire a Canadian mining company on "national security" grounds.

Economic and trade cooperation between China and Canada is mutually beneficial, Zhao said. "The Chinese government has always required Chinese enterprises to carry out overseas investment cooperation on the basis of complying with international rules and local laws and regulations."

Any politicization of normal commercial cooperation and political intervention on the grounds of national security is wrong, he added.