Canada’s Carney welcomes improving relations with China | Political news

Carney is making a four-day trip to China, the first by a Canadian prime minister since 2017, in an effort to thaw strained relations.

Prime Minister Mark Carney praised improving ties between Canada and China, as well as the leadership of President Xi Jinping, saying their nations are 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 Carney’s positive meeting with Xi in South Korea in October. The two are expected to meet on Friday.

“We are encouraged by President Xi Jinping’s leadership and the speed with which our relations have progressed,” Carney told China’s top lawmaker, Zhao Leji, during a meeting Thursday in Beijing.

“This paves the way for these important discussions on a wide range of issues in which we can be strategic partners, from energy to agriculture, people-to-people ties, multilateralism and security issues.”

Carney’s optimism follows months of intense reengagement by the two countries aimed at recalibrating ties that deteriorated under the previous prime minister, Justin Trudeau.

Those efforts have also been fueled by a desire to diversify export markets after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Canada last year and suggested the longtime U.S. ally could become his country’s 51st state.

“Our teams have worked hard to resolve trade irritants and create platforms for new opportunities,” Carney told Premier Li Qiang in a separate meeting.

“I believe that together we will get this relationship back to where it should be.”

Automobile prices

Periods of tension over the past decade have strained ties, most recently after the Trudeau government imposed tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in 2024, following similar U.S. restrictions.

Trudeau said at the time that the electric vehicle tariffs were imposed because Chinese state subsidies had given Chinese manufacturers an unfair advantage in the global market, hurting the prospects of the Canadian auto industry.

China retaliated last March with tariffs on more than $2.6 billion worth of Canadian agricultural and food products, such as canola oil and meal, leading to a 10.4 percent drop in Chinese imports of Canadian products in 2025, customs data showed Wednesday.

Canadian Industry Minister Mélanie Joly, who was part of Carney’s delegation to China, said discussions on auto tariffs were still ongoing when asked by reporters whether Canada could reduce electric vehicle tariffs by 50 percent.

Negotiations will continue on Friday, Joly said, when Carney meets with Xi.

“Maintain open communication channels”

Efforts to establish a new dialogue have accelerated since Carney took the helm last year, with senior officials from both parties holding meetings and phone calls that culminated in the leaders’ October meeting in South Korea.

In a trade and economic roadmap signed on Thursday, the two countries pledged to “maintain open channels of communication” to resolve issues related to trade in agricultural products.

In the road map, Ottawa welcomes Chinese investments in energy, agriculture and consumer products, while Beijing looks forward to Canadian investments in services, new materials, aerospace and advanced manufacturing, among other areas.

In the energy field, the two sides are expected to explore oil and gas development, as well as cooperation in natural uranium trade.

The pacts provide “an example to the world of cooperation in a global era of division and disorder,” Carney said during his meeting with Zhao.

Since arriving in the Chinese capital on Wednesday, Carney has met with top executives of his business groups, such as electric vehicle battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) and China National Petroleum Corp.

He also met with officials from smart wind turbine maker Envision Energy, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, investment firm Primavera Capital Group and e-commerce titan Alibaba.