Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is scheduled to arrive in Beijing next Tuesday for the first state visit by a Canadian leader in more than eight years, multiple media outlets report. The five-day trip comes as Ottawa ramps up efforts to diversify its trade away from the US.
Carney is expected to meet President Xi Jinping and senior Chinese officials to discuss trade, energy, agriculture and international security, his office has said. The visit follows an invitation from Xi after the two leaders met at an Asia-Pacific summit in October, after which Carney described Canada-China relations as at a “turning point.”
China is Canada’s second-largest trading partner, but bilateral relations have been strained in recent years. Canada detained a senior Huawei executive at the request of the US in 2018, and the country imposed steep tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EV), steel and aluminium in 2024. Beijing has retaliated with high levies of its own, on Canadian agricultural products.
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However, relations with Canada’s biggest trade partner, the US, have deteriorated rapidly since US President Donald Trump took office early last year – with Washington threatening both its neighbour’s economy and sovereignty. As a result, Carney’s government has pledged to double non-US exports over the next decade.
“We’re forging new partnerships around the world to transform our economy from one that has been reliant on a single trade partner, to one that is stronger and more resilient to global shock,” Carney said earlier this week.
Previously, Beijing officials have said they would consider dropping some import levies on Canadian goods if Ottawa got rid of its 100 percent tax on Chinese EVs.
