Carney is on a four-day visit to China, the first by a Canadian prime minister since 2017, in a move to thaw strained ties.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has praised Canada’s improved relationship with China as well as President Xi Jinping’s leadership, declaring that his nations are forging a new path of cooperation amid global division and disarray.
It was the first four-day visit by a Canadian prime minister to China in 2017, following Carney’s positive meeting with Xi in South Korea in October. Both will meet on Friday.
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“We are pleased with President Xi Jinping’s leadership and the speed at which our relationship is progressing,” Carney told China’s top lawmaker Zhao Leji at a meeting in Beijing on Thursday.
“It sets the stage for these important discussions on various issues where we can be strategic partners on issues ranging from energy to agriculture, people-to-people relations, multilateralism, security issues.”
Carney’s optimism comes after months of intense rapprochement between the two countries aimed at mending relations that soured under previous Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Efforts to diversify export markets have also gained momentum after United States President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Canada last year and suggested the longtime US ally could become the country’s 51st state.
“Our teams have worked hard, removed trade frictions and created platforms for new opportunities,” Carney told Premier Li Qiang in a separate meeting.
“I believe that together, we are bringing this relationship back to where it should be.”
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Relations have been strained by periods of tension over the past decade, with Trudeau’s government imposing tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in 2024, following similar U.S. restrictions.
Trudeau said the EV tariffs were imposed because Chinese state subsidies gave manufacturers in China an unfair advantage in the global market, hurting the outlook for Canada’s car industry.
China last March imposed tariffs on more than $2.6 billion in Canadian farm and food products, such as canola oil and meal, leading to a 10.4 percent drop in Chinese imports of Canadian goods in 2025, customs data showed Wednesday.
Canadian Industry Minister Melanie Joly, who was part of Carney’s delegation to China, said discussions about auto tariffs were still ongoing when reporters asked if Canada could cut EV tariffs by 50 percent.
Negotiations will continue on Friday, Jolley said, when Carney will meet with Xi.
‘Maintaining open channels of communication’
Efforts to renew dialogue have gained momentum since Carney took the helm last year, with top officials from both sides setting up meetings and phone calls that led to the leaders meeting in South Korea in October.
In the trade and economic roadmap signed on Thursday, both committed to “maintain open channels of communication” to resolve issues on trade in agricultural products.
In the roadmap, Ottawa welcomes Chinese investment in energy, agriculture and consumer products, while Beijing looks forward to Canadian investment in services, new materials, aerospace and advanced manufacturing, among other sectors.
In the energy sector, both sides want to explore cooperation in oil and gas development as well as natural uranium trade.
The accords “set an example of cooperation in a time of global division and chaos”, Carney said during his meeting with Zhao.
Since arriving in the Chinese capital on Wednesday, Carney has met with senior executives from business groups such as EV battery company Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) and China National Petroleum Corp.
He has also met with executives from smart wind turbine maker Envision Energy, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, investment firm Primavera Capital Group and e-commerce titan Alibaba.