On the evening of the 14th, Canadian Prime Minister Carney arrived at Beijing Capital International Airport by plane, kicking off his four-day visit to China. Before departing, Carney posted a photo of himself boarding the plane on the social media platform X and announced his upcoming visit to China.
Upon departure, Carney posted: “I am about to head to Beijing. China is our second-largest trading partner and the world's second-largest economy. A pragmatic and constructive relationship between our two countries will bring greater stability, security, and prosperity to both sides of the Pacific.”
This is Carney’s first official visit to China since taking office, and the first visit to Beijing by a Canadian leader in eight years. According to France's Le Figaro, the main purpose of Carney’s visit is to strengthen bilateral relations, particularly to reduce Canada's dependence on the United States.
Since the arrest of Huawei's CFO, Meng Wanzhou—daughter of Huawei's founder Ren Zhengfei—in Vancouver, Canada in 2018, relations between the two countries hit a freezing point. In July last year, Canada announced a 25% tariff on steel imported from China that was smelted and cast there. The next month, Beijing imposed a temporary tariff of up to 75.8% on canola seed from Canada. However, signs of warming appeared in late October last year, when Xi Jinping and Carney met in Gyeongju, South Korea, discussing “sensitive issues” such as agriculture and agricultural products (like canola), seafood, and electric vehicles.
Saskatchewan Premier Moe also accompanied Carney on the visit. Moe said Canada needs to maintain a solid relationship with China and that the meeting would help both sides realign their cooperation methods. “I am pleased to work with Prime Minister Carney to advance interests that are critical to Canadians.”