Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday hailed what he called a strategic Canada-China partnership in his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, as both sides aim to deepen bilateral ties after nearly ten years of poor relations between Beijing and Ottawa.
Speaking at the start of a bilateral meeting with the Chinese leader, Carney said he is “extremely pleased” that Ottawa and Beijing are quickly moving forward with their new strategic partnership.
According to Carney, the relationship “will not only deepen our bilateral ties to the benefit of our peoples but will also—from our judgement—help improve the multilateral system—a system that, in recent years, has come under great strain.”
On his part, Xi told Carney he is “heartened” by the progress the two sides have made since “resuming and restarting” the relationship in recent months.
Xi described the leaders’ last meeting on the sidelines of the APEC summit in South Korea in October as a “turnaround” in the Canada-China relationship.
“A healthy, stable Canada-China is in the interest of our two countries and in the peace and stability of the world,” Xi added.
Carney’s four-day trip to China, which began on Wednesday, is the first by a Canadian leader to China in eight years and follows several years of acrimony over issues ranging from Canada’s 2018 arrest of a senior Chinese tech executive to 100% Canadian tariffs on China-made electric vehicles.
Carney attempting to repair ties
Carney, who became prime minister 10 months ago, is attempting to repair ties with China as he looks to develop ties with countries other than the United States amid the growing strain of relations with the Trump administration in Washington.
On Thursday, the Canadian premier said his country was entering a new era of relations with China.
“We’re ready to build a new partnership—one that builds on the best of our past and responds to the challenges of today,” Carney posted on X after he arrived in Beijing on Wednesday night.
The situation for Canada is made more pressing by higher import tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump. More than 75% percent of Canada’s exports go to the US, and Carney has set a goal of reducing that reliance by doubling Canada’s exports to other countries over the next decade.
“We will double non-US trade over the next 10 years. That means we are cognizant of the fact that the global economic environment has fundamentally changed and that Canada must diversify its trading partners,” Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said in Beijing after she arrived with Carney for the visit.
Earlier, upon the start of the visit, the Canadian government announced that it had signed a total of eight memoranda of understanding with the Chinese government, which include energy, the export of pet food, culture, and tourism.
Carney told Xi that he believes the two nations can achieve both quick and long-term progress in several areas, including agriculture, agri-food, energy, and finance, even though the specifics of the new cooperation are still unknown.
For months, China’s state media has been calling on the Canadian government to set a foreign policy path independent of the United States—what it calls “strategic autonomy.”
Canada has long been one of the US’s closest allies, geographically and economically, but Beijing is hoping that US President Donald Trump’s economic aggression—and, now, military action—against other countries will erode that long-standing relationship.
Trump stirred up confusion and ratcheted up tension with Canada upon the start of his second term last January with strong rhetoric on making Canada become the 51st US state, something Ottawa has dismissed and vowed to resist.
