Chinese President Xi Jinping has invited Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to visit China, marking the first official meeting between the two nations’ leaders since 2017. The invitation came during their talks at the APEC summit in South Korea on Friday.
Relations between China and Canada have been strained for years, but Xi said recent efforts from both sides have shown “a recovery toward a trend of positive development.” He expressed China’s willingness to work with Canada to restore ties and deepen cooperation.
Carney, accepting the invitation, acknowledged that both nations have been less engaged in recent years but said he believed “constructive and pragmatic dialogue” could help resolve their differences and build a more inclusive international system.
Ties between the two countries deteriorated sharply in 2018 after the arrest of a senior Chinese telecom executive in Vancouver on a U.S. warrant and China’s retaliatory detention of two Canadians accused of espionage.
Trade tensions have also escalated. In July, Carney imposed a 25 percent tariff on Chinese steel imports, prompting Beijing to respond with a 75.8 percent duty on Canadian canola imports, a key export for Canada.
Both countries have also been affected by former U.S. President Donald Trump’s global tariff policies. Although Trump and Xi agreed on Thursday to ease trade tensions slightly, the U.S. president maintained a 47 percent average tariff on Chinese imports. He also announced an additional 10 percent tariff on Canadian goods and ended trade talks with Ottawa.
At the APEC gathering, Carney lamented the collapse of the old global trade order, describing it as “a world that is gone.” He highlighted Canada’s growing role as an “energy superpower,” particularly in supplying liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Asian markets.
Later, Xi met Japan’s new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, for the first time since she took office earlier this month. Xi expressed China’s readiness to work with Japan to build stable and constructive relations.
Takaichi, known for her strong views on China and support for Taiwan, has pledged to boost Japan’s defense spending and strengthen security cooperation with like-minded nations. She was expected to raise concerns about China’s actions in the East China Sea, where both countries claim the Senkaku (Diaoyu) Islands, and to press for the release of detained Japanese citizens in China.
Analysts said the meeting between Xi and Takaichi could be cautious but necessary. “It could be a frosty get-to-know-you meeting,” said Yee Kuang Heng, a professor at the University of Tokyo. “But overall, stability is a shared priority.”
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