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Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will arrive in China this week on a high-stakes diplomatic mission aimed at reviving long-stalled ties with Beijing and reshaping Canada’s global trade strategy as relations with the US grow increasingly strained.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping. (AP)He will arrive on Wednesday and is making the trip as part of a broader strategic rethink as ties with the US, Canada’s largest trading partner by far, continue to sour.
Carney has set an ambitious goal of doubling Canada’s non-American exports over the next decade, as US President Donald Trump presses ahead with tariffs and has even mused that Canada could become “the 51st state”, according to a report by The Associated Press.
“At a time of global trade disruption, Canada is focused on building a more competitive, sustainable, and independent economy,” Carney said in a statement.
“We're forging new partnerships around the world to transform our economy from one that has been reliant on a single trade partner.”
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What to expect from Carney's China visit?During the visit, Carney will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday along with other senior officials.
Canadian officials briefing reporters described the trip as an effort to strengthen a dormant strategic partnership.
They also noted Washington’s intervention in Venezuela as an example of the far-reaching implications of US foreign policy.
While officials said progress would be made on trade irritants with Beijing, they cautioned that some tariffs would not be eliminated outright.
Carney will head to Qatar and SwitzerlandCarney will remain in China until Saturday, before travelling to Qatar and then on to Switzerland for next week’s World Economic Forum meeting in Davos.
Trump’s tariffs have pushed both Canada and China to seek stronger international cooperation, said Zhu Feng, dean of the School of International Studies at China’s Nanjing University.
Carney has been in office for less than a year, succeeding Justin Trudeau, who served nearly a decade as prime minister.
Trump, who has said he will visit China in April, has signalled he wants a smooth relationship with Beijing, even as he launched a tit-for-tat trade war that saw tariffs exceed 100% before he backed down.
Why is Carney turning to China?In Canada, Trump’s threats have reopened debate about the country’s longstanding reliance on its powerful neighbour.
Those close ties have also contributed to Canada’s strained relationship with China.
More recently, Canada followed the US in imposing a 100% tariff on Chinese electric vehicles and a 25% tariff on steel and aluminium. China, Canada’s second-largest trading partner, responded with tariffs on Canadian canola, seafood and pork, and said it would remove some of them if Ottawa dropped the EV tariff.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said China looked forward to the visit as a chance to “consolidate the momentum of improvement in China-Canada relations.”
Carney last met Xi in late October in South Korea during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
Carney is expected to visit India later this year.