Prime Minister Mark Carney will travel to China next week, marking the first visit to the country by a Canadian prime minister since 2017.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said the trip from Jan. 13 to 17 will see Carney meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss trade, energy, agriculture and international security.
The PMO said it “could not confirm other possible stops” Carney might make “at this point.”
Carney met Xi on the margins of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Gyeongju, South Korea, in October, where he accepted Xi’s invitation for a visit.
There are a number of outstanding trade irritants at play between the two countries that will likely come up during discussions on the ground.
In 2024, Canada imposed 100 per cent tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles in lockstep with the United States, arguing the measure was required to protect Canada’s domestic automobile industry.
Ottawa has said Beijing is unfairly subsidizing its electric vehicle industry, flooding international markets with cheap cars to gain an unfair competitive advantage.
In response, China imposed a 76 per cent tariff on Canadian canola seed imports and a 100 per cent tariff on canola oil, meal and peas. China also put a 25 per cent tariff on certain Canadian pork, fish and seafood products.
