By Maria Cheng
BEIJING, Jan 15 (Reuters) – Prime Minister Mark Carney hailed Canada’s improving ties with China as well as the leadership of President Xi Jinping on Thursday, declaring their nations were charting a new course in cooperation at a time of global division and disorder.
The four-day visit to China was the first by a Canadian prime minister since 2017, following up on Carney’s positive meeting with Xi in South Korea in October. The two are set to meet again on Friday.
“We’re heartened by the leadership of President Xi Jinping and the speed with which our relationship has progressed,” Carney told China’s top legislator, Zhao Leji, in a meeting in Beijing.
“It sets the stage for these important discussions on a wide range of issues where we can be strategic partners from energy to agriculture, to people-to-people ties, multilateralism, to issues on security.”
Carney’s optimism follows months of intense re-engagement by both countries aimed at recalibrating ties that had soured under Canada’s previous prime minister, Justin Trudeau.
The efforts have also been fuelled by a push to diversify export markets after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on some goods from Canada last year and suggested the longtime U.S. ally could become his country’s 51st state.
Trump on Tuesday said the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, which is up for review this year, is not relevant for the U.S. Canada has historically sent around three-quarters of its exports to the United States and China is its No. 2 trading partner.
Canada’s red and white maple leaf flag flew near Chairman Mao’s portrait in Tiananmen Square, where the Communist republic was first declared in 1949.
“Our teams have worked hard, addressing trade irritants and creating platforms for new opportunities,” Carney told Premier Li Qiang in a separate meeting.
“I believe that together, we are bringing this relationship back toward where it should be.”
AUTO TARIFFS IN FOCUS
Periods of tension in the past decade have strained ties, most recently after Trudeau’s government imposed tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in 2024, following similar U.S. curbs.
Trudeau said at the time the EV tariffs were imposed because Chinese state subsidies had given manufacturers in China an unfair advantage in the global marketplace, harming the outlook for Canada’s auto industry.
China retaliated last March with tariffs on more than $2.6 billion of Canadian farm and food products, such as canola oil and meal, followed by tariffs on canola seed in August, leading to a slump of 10.4% in Chinese imports of Canadian goods in 2025.
Canadian Industry Minister Melanie Joly, who was part of Carney’s delegation to China, said talks about auto tariffs were still ongoing when asked by reporters if Canada might reduce the EV tariffs by 50%.
Negotiations will continue on Friday, Joly said.
DIALOGUE HAS GATHERED PACE
Efforts to strike up new dialogue have gathered pace since Carney took office last year.
In a trade and economic roadmap signed on Thursday, both committed to “maintaining open channels of communication” to resolve issues on trade in agricultural products.
In the roadmap, Ottawa welcomed Chinese investments in energy, agriculture and consumer products, while Beijing looked forward to Canada’s investment in services, new materials, aerospace and advanced manufacturing, among other fields.
In energy, both sides plan to explore oil and gas development, as well as cooperation in natural uranium trade.
Canada’s Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson said he had heard “loud and clear” that China was looking for reliable trading partners and would like more Canadian energy products.
The pacts provide “an example to the world of cooperation amidst a time globally of division and disorder,” Carney said in his meeting with Zhao.
Since arriving in the Chinese capital on Wednesday, Carney has met senior executives of its business groups, such as EV battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) and China National Petroleum Corp.
He has also met officials of smart wind turbine maker Envision Energy, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, investment firm Primavera Capital Group and e-commerce titan Alibaba.
(Reporting by Maria Cheng; Additional reporting by Joe Cash in Beijing; Writing by Ryan Woo; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Clarence Fernandez, Aidan Lewis, Andrew Heavens and Nia Williams)
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