I had a fantastic opportunity to personally visit Beijing in October with a group of our students from Renison University College at the University of Waterloo in Canada. I was so impressed with how modern, clean and friendly the city was.

I was fascinated by the high proportion of technologically advanced electric vehicles, and the very good integration of technology using smartphones for things like payment methods (through WeChat) and ride-sharing (such as Didi).

I also was deeply moved by the beautiful culture and history of the city and of China.

Our group had an opportunity to visit a number of national historical treasures, such as the Forbidden City and the Great Wall. At each of these places I was impressed with the sheer size and magnitude of the sites, and the interesting, treasured history.

It was a beautiful, clear day when we visited the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. Our group did it the "hard way" by walking up the hill to the top of the Wall. It was a wonder to see the cobblestones of the wall extending as far as one could see, and to imagine both the history of the wall and the incredible feat of engineering that was completed by hand over a period of more than 2,000 years — with some portions dating back to the seventh century BC.

It is noteworthy that experiencing historical and cultural artifacts like these is only possible when countries encourage exchange and trade.

Economic theory suggests that international trade can greatly benefit the people of each country. Very few countries have the resource base to be able to live in a closed state with trade barriers.

For example, Canada, being a country with significant winter weather, must either import fresh fruits and vegetables from other (warmer) countries, or produce them locally in greenhouses at a much greater cost.

Trade with countries that produce fresh fruits ensures product variety for Canadians at lower cost in the winter months.

Similarly, I believe that Canadian auto markets would benefit from competition with high-quality Chinese EVs by creating more product variety at lower prices for consumers. Protectionist trade policies, such as tariffs, quotas or voluntary export restraints, only hurt consumers and producers in the long run through much more expensive products or inferior substitutes due to a lack of trade.

In January, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met with President Xi Jinping in Beijing, along with a delegation of Canadian government officials. The leaders had an opportunity to renew and reset the trading partnership between Canada and China, and we reached agreements, for example, on reducing tariffs on Canadian agricultural products such as canola, in exchange for allowing a quota of Chinese electric vehicles into Canadian markets. While we may experience some short-term transition costs for local producers, the benefits of free trade ultimately far outweigh the short-term transaction costs of fresh competition in local markets.

Where historical trading partners have become unreliable in recent years, expanding trade agreements around the world will strengthen world economics and opportunities for the world economy. I am also supportive of reducing trade barriers to allow labor mobility and country visits to enhance friendship and cooperation, such as China's removal of visa requirements for Canadians who visit for short periods of time.

I also believe it is important to continue to promote positive exchange opportunities through language and culture courses between China and Canada, as we did in the fall of 2025.

During that time, our students, who were hosted at Beijing Normal University, were exposed to language and culture classes, as well as lived-experience opportunities and tours of significant cultural sites and activities through an immersive two-week credit course.

As one student noted: "I came back home with a completely unique perspective on China; my experience was wonderful, and I want to go back and travel there more than ever!"

It is experiences like these that promote cooperation and collegiality, which helps foster positive relations between our countries and creates relationships that lead to open trade and exchange.

I look forward to continuing to do my part to help strengthen relations between China and Canada with such educational programs in the days ahead, as trade barriers are reduced and more economic activities are shared between our countries.

The author is president and vice-chancellor of Renison University College at the University of Waterloo in Canada.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.