Opening the door to what he calls pragmatic and constructive dialogue, Prime Minister Mark Carney held a bilateral meeting Friday with the president of China on the margins of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
It marked the first formal leader-to-leader contact between the two nations since 2017.
The meeting with Xi Jinping comes one day after the Chinese leader sat down with U.S. President Donald Trump, a meeting that dialed back the trade war between the two economic superpowers — at least for the time being.
In brief remarks before the start of his meeting with Carney, Xi spoke about the long history of co-operation and engagement between Canada and China. And he invited the prime minister for a state visit.
“China is willing to work together with Canada to push China-Canada relations back onto a healthy, stable, and sustainable correct track at an early date, so as to better benefit the people of our two countries,” Xi said in Mandarin Chinese, remarks that were later translated.
Carney also acknowledged the two countries had grown estranged over the last several years.
“Distance is not the way to solve problems, not the way to serve our people,” the prime minister said at the outset before the media was ushered out of the room.
Following the meeting, Carney stopped to say that he was pleased with the talks, which lasted 39 minutes, according to officials in the prime minister’s office.
“This meeting today is long overdue,” Carney said on his way to the APEC leaders dinner. “We now have a turning point in the relationship, a turning point that creates opportunities for Canadian families, for Canadian businesses.”
He didn’t go into specifics.
A readout of the discussion from the Prime Minister’s Office said both leaders directed their officials to move quickly “to resolve outstanding trade issues and irritants.”
The statement went on to say they discussed “solutions to respective sensitivities regarding issues including agriculture and agri-food products, such as canola, as well as seafood and electric vehicles.”
Major Canadian exports to China — especially canola, pork, and minerals — have faced recurring trade barriers.
Over the years, a number of Canadian political leaders and federal policymakers have accused Beijing of using trade as leverage.
Canadian tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles have been another major frustration.
As for the olive branch of a state visit, Carney says he’ll go.
Prior to Friday, the last formal, high-level contact took place when former prime minister Justin Trudeau met with Xi in Beijing in 2017, when Canada pursued, and ultimately failed, to secure a free-trade deal with China.
Relations between the two countries have been deeply strained, defined by almost a decade of mistrust and sporadic economic engagement. The major political rupture emerged with the 2018 arrest of Huawei tech executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver and Beijing’s retaliatory detention of two Canadians. The episode hardened public and political opinion against China, which was further reinforced by allegations that Beijing sought to meddle in elections in Canada as well as the intimidation of diaspora communities.
