Canadian Prime Minister Carney in China to 'restart' relations
China praised Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's visit to Beijing this week on Thursday, describing it as “critical” in his efforts to rearrange relations after months of intense re-engagement.
These statements of China's top diplomat, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, came during a meeting with his Canadian counterpart Anita Anand, who has been on Carney's delegation as part of the first visit of a Canadian prime minister since 2017.
“This is the first visit of the Canadian prime minister to China in eight years, representing a critical and landmark moment for our bilateral relations,” Wang said.
Wang also said that China is willing to deepen cooperation with Canada while eliminating the "intervention", but did not specify the source of the intervention.
In response, Anand praised the behind-the-scenes work in the process of organizing Carney's upcoming talks with Chinese leaders to “ensure that these talks are successful”, according to the statement made by the Canadian prime ministership.
WARMING UP OF RELATIONSHIPS
Since the positive confrontation between Carney and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea last year, countries have expressed a joint desire to leave behind periods of tension that have been shaking relations since 2017.
The latest tension has occurred after the government of former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau imposed customs duties on Chinese electric vehicles in 2024, following similar US restrictions.
Last March, China retaliated with customs duties on Canadian agricultural and food products worth more than $2.6 billion, such as canola oil and pulp, which led to a 10.4% drop in imports of Canadian goods into China in 2025, according to customs data released on Wednesday.
The re-engagement with China was shaped by US President Donald Trump's efforts to diversify the country's export markets after he imposed tariffs on Canada last year and suggested that the country, which has been a long-time US ally, could be the 51st state of the United States.
It was stated that the visit of Canadian Prime Minister Carney will last until Saturday.