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“As that anxiety spreads, people start to turn inwards. They start to close off. They start to get fearful,” he added. “If that continues to happen, make no mistake about it, we will all lose.”

Trudeau didn’t mention the Donald Trump administration in Washington, but he’s already spoken out in China on the need to save the North American Free Trade Agreement from demise. He was delivering the message to a gathering of business leaders meeting under the banner of “Openness and Innovation: Shaping the Global Economy,” that brought together the chief executives from the world’s biggest companies.

In his speech, he singled out China as kindred economic spirit, saying it is “well aligned” with Canada to fight for liberalized trade.

We are at a pivot point in the world right now, where we decide whether we work together in an open and confident way and succeed or whether we all falter separately and isolated Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

“In this new era, we refuse to get left behind; instead we have chosen to lead. We know there are significant disruptions around the world, in our workplaces, within our borders in our countries.”

Canada and China are still working towards starting formal free talks, a task that has been given to International Trade Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, who stayed behind in Beijing where Trudeau held meetings earlier in the week.

Trudeau’s meetings in Beijing with China’s top leadership failed to move Canada-China free talks forward from a long round of exploratory talks to the start of formal negotiations. But both countries say economic bonds are stronger than ever as Trudeau was warmly welcomed by President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing.