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Dewey Sim

Alyssa Chen

China and Canada have embarked on a new strategic partnership, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in the Chinese capital on Friday as he announced a series of deals and suggested that Beijing was a “more predictable” partner than Washington.
After talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Carney, whose four-day visit to China ends on Saturday, said the two countries made “significant progress” on key issues during a “historic and productive two days”.
He said bilateral ties had been “distant and uncertain for nearly a decade”, hitting investment, costing Canadian workers opportunities and leaving Canada “even more dependent on our largest trading partner”.
“That’s why immediately after the election, Canada’s new government began to recalibrate our relationship with China strategically, pragmatically and decisively,” he said.
“There is much to protect in this relationship and much on which to build and much to be gained … And to that end, President Xi and I are announcing that Canada and China are forging a new strategic partnership.”
Carney is the first Canadian leader to visit China since 2017, and his trip comes as both Ottawa and Beijing are at odds with the United States over US President Donald Trump’s tariffs.


After years of strained ties, Canada has been keen to mend fences with China – its second-biggest trading partner after the US.
During the talks, Xi urged the two countries to build a new strategic partnership based on mutual respect and shared interests and called for deeper and broader economic cooperation.
“China-Canada economic and trade relations are mutually beneficial in nature, and both sides have gained from cooperation,” state news agency Xinhua quoted Xi as saying.
“The two sides need to focus more on expanding cooperation and less on making negative lists, and [more on] on tightening the bond of shared interests through deeper and broader cooperation.”
After the talks, Carney outlined five key areas of the two countries’ new strategic partnership, including greater cooperation in clean energy and trade, global governance and people-to-people engagement. Under the partnership, Canada has agreed to allow up to 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles into the Canadian market, but Carney did not say over what period.
The two countries also reached a “preliminary but landmark” deal that would remove trade barriers and tariffs, including an expectation that China would lower tariffs on Canadian canola seed by March 1 to a combined rate of about 15 per cent, down from 84 per cent, the Canadian leader said.
In addition, China was committed to “ensuring visa-free access for Canadians travelling to China”, he added, as part of efforts to deepen ties between the people of the two countries.
Carney said Canada must find new partners and diversify its trade amid dramatic changes in the world, “and that means we have to understand the differences between Canada and other countries and focus our efforts to work together where we’re aligned”.
“We’re different countries. We have different systems, different histories, different perspectives, yet we have much in common,” he said about China, adding that the new partnership “reflects the world as it is today, with an engagement that’s realistic, respectful and interest-based”.


Asked whether China was a more predictable partner than the US, Carney noted that during his meetings with key Chinese officials, including Xi, the two sides tabled issues where they could cooperate but also those where there were differences.
“That sort of candid and consistent dialogue … leads to a more predictable and effective relationship,” he said, but added that Canada’s ties with the US were more multifaceted and broader.
“But yes, in terms of the way that our relationship has progressed in recent months with China, it is more predictable, and you see results coming from that.”
Responding to a separate question on his earlier description of China as Canada’s biggest security threat, Carney would only say that Canada was managing its security threats by building resilience and through engagement.
Carney said he also discussed the situation in Greenland with Xi and “found much alignment in views” over issues concerning the sovereignty of Greenland and Denmark and about “our sovereignty in the Arctic”. Trump has ramped up threats to take control of Greenland.
In the Xinhua report, Xi stressed the need for China and Canada to be “partners in global coordination” through platforms such as the United Nations, the Group of 20 and Apec, warning that multilateralism should be upheld in a divided world.
“Together we can build on the best of what this relationship has been in the past, and create a new one adapted to new global realities,” Carney said during his opening remarks, adding that it could deliver stability, security and prosperity for both nations.
The Canadian leader identified agriculture, energy and finance as key areas where the two nations could make “immediate and sustained progress”.
It is the second time Xi and Carney have met in three months. During talks on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, in October, Xi expressed a desire to restart bilateral cooperation and to “make up for lost time”.
On Friday, Xi said he was “pleased” with progress. He said their meeting in South Korea marked a positive new direction for the relationship, and the two sides had discussed restarting cooperation across various fields in recent months.
“We are willing to continue our efforts, with a responsible attitude towards history, our people and the world, to further improve China-Canada relations and move it onto the track of healthy, stable and sustainable development,” Xi said.
Ahead of his trip, Carney pledged to diversify the Canadian economy to counter global trade disruptions. Canada’s steel, aluminium and car sectors have been hit by Trump’s tariffs, with talks between Ottawa and Washington to ease those duties suspended.

On Thursday, Carney held talks with Premier Li Qiang and they oversaw the signing of memorandums of understanding on energy, combating crime, construction, culture, food safety, and plant and animal health.
Carney also spoke with the heads of Chinese companies including investment firm Primavera Capital Group, the world’s largest battery maker CATL, state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation, e-commerce platform Alibaba Group, and tech company Envision Group, according to Canadian media reports.
China ranks as Canada’s second-largest trading partner, with two-way merchandise trade reaching over C$118 billion (US$84.9 billion) in 2024 – much lower than the C$761 billion two-way trade with the US but vital for Ottawa’s diversification push.
Canada-China relations have been strained for nearly a decade, hitting rock bottom in 2018 during Trump’s first term as US president, when Chinese national Meng Wanzhou, a Huawei Technologies executive, was arrested in Vancouver on a US warrant.
Beijing retaliated by detaining Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor on spying charges, in what Ottawa called “hostage diplomacy”. The stand-off halted top-level talks for years, only ending in 2021 when a deal with US prosecutors led to the release of all three.
Tensions heated up again in 2023 when Canada expelled a Chinese diplomat in response to alleged election interference and intimidation against lawmakers, claims denied by Beijing. A public inquiry found attempts by China and other countries to interfere in the elections had minimal impact on their outcomes.


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Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday that “together we can build on the best of what this relationship has been in the past”. Photo: Reuters

Chinese Premier Li Qiang meets Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Beijing on Thursday. Photo: Xinhua.

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Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney review an honour guard at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Thursday. Photo: Reuters

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets his Canadian counterpart, Anita Anand, in Beijing on Thursday, ahead of a meeting between Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Chinese Premier Li Qiang. Photo: Reuters

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Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will arrive in Beijing on Tuesday for a five-day trip. Photo: The Canadian Press

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China

Diplomacy

After a near-decade of distant relations, the two countries are ‘forging a new partnership’


After a near-decade of distant relations, the two countries are ‘forging a new partnership’.


Xi Jinping and Mark Carney refresh China-Canada ties with ‘historic’ state visit

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}After a near-decade of distant relations, the two countries are ‘forging a new partnership’

After a near-decade of distant relations, the two countries are ‘forging a new partnership’