Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada is entering a “new era of relations” with China and that his visit to Beijing sets the stage for talks on areas where the two can be “strategic partners.”
The prime minister made the comments as he was welcomed in Beijing by the second- and third-most-powerful figures in China’s political system.
China’s Premier Li Qiang hailed the “turnaround” in bilateral relations with Canada and said Carney’s meeting with President Xi Jinping on Friday will pave the way for “upward growth” in the relationship.
Carney was also in and out of a marathon of closed-door meetings with businesses throughout Thursday. He met with top officials from firms such as Alibaba, China National Petroleum, the EV battery company Contemporary Amperex Technology and China’s largest state-owned commercial bank, ICBC.
It all signals that new economic doors may be about to open between the two countries after nearly a decade of friction on trade, security and diplomacy.
Earlier, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand met with her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, who expressed similar sentiments.
Wang says the progress between the two countries will lead to opening up new prospects for relations amid unprecedented and complex changes taking place in the world.
The Liberals are under pressure to convince Beijing to repeal or lower agricultural tariffs hurting Atlantic and western provinces — but that would involve some sort of trade-off with Canada’s levies on Chinese electric vehicles, which Ontario Premier Doug Ford maintains are essential to protecting domestic jobs.
Anand has said the Liberals are seeking to advance economic benefits for all regions of Canada through this Beijing visit — and while the trip has a heavy trade focus, she says this will touch on issues that go beyond just economic concerns.
