Carney agrees to ‘regularize’ communication between Canada and China

Prime Minister Mark Carney arrives to a caucus meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, June 4, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

In a notable move amid recent diplomatic and trade tensions, Prime Minister Mark Carney has agreed to “regularize channels of communication between Canada and China” after having a conversation with a top Chinese official on Thursday.

According to a readout from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) released late Thursday, Carney and Chinese Premier Li Qiang also agreed to work together to address the fentanyl crisis and discussed trade between the two countries.

“Prime Minister Carney took the opportunity to raise trade irritants affecting agriculture and agri-food products, including canola and seafood, as well as other issues, with Premier Li,” the readout says.

“They welcomed their trade ministers’ meeting this week, during which Canada and China agreed to convene the Joint Economic and Trade Commission (JETC) at an early date to address outstanding trade issues,” the statement goes on to say.

The PMO has confirmed to CTV News this was Carney’s first conversation with Chinese leadership since becoming prime minister.

Carney’s outreach to China comes as he seeks to strengthen economic ties with other large economies like China and India in the face of U.S. President Donald Trump’s global trade war.

Asked directly while speaking to reporters on Parliament Hill on Friday on whether he trusts China, Carney did not give an explicit answer.

“This is the start of a process of recalibrating the relationship with China. It’s very important that we reopen dialog with Chinese authorities for several reasons,” Carney said, while highlighting China as Canada’s “second largest trading partner.”

Previously, during the federal election earlier this year, Carney called China one of the largest threats when it comes to foreign interference in Canada and emerging threats in the Arctic.

‘China willing to work with Canada:’ Li

In an interview with CTV Question Period back in May, China’s Ambassador to Canada Wang Di expressed China’s desire to meet with the Carney government “as soon as possible” to discuss the latest trade issues between the two countries.

Premier Li released a statement on Friday, saying he spoke with Carney at the prime minister’s request.

“China is willing to work with Canada, in the spirit of looking to the future, to promote the steady improvement of bilateral relations, bring them onto a track of sound and steady development, and strive for win-win cooperation,” Li said.

Last October – under the government of former prime minister Justin Trudeau – Canada followed the U.S. lead and imposed a 100 per cent tariff on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), accusing Beijing of “distorting global trade” by exporting EVs at “unfairly low prices.”

Canada also hit China with a 25 per cent tariff on Chinese steel and aluminum.

Following its own so-called anti-discrimination investigation, China retaliated by imposing a 100 per cent tariff on Canadian canola oil and canola meal, along with several other tariffs on Canadian agricultural products.

In 2024, Canada’s total canola exports to China were valued at almost $5 billion. China is also Canada’s second-largest seafood market.

Premiers have been putting pressure on Carney to improve trade relations with China and get those tariffs lifted.

At the First Ministers’ Meeting in Saskatoon on Monday, Carney said the federal government planned to work urgently to remove Chinese tariffs on impacted Canadian agriculture and seafood products.

“The Canadian government is engaging with its Chinese counterparts at the ministerial level and we’ll continue those discussions,” Carney told reporters on Monday.

The relationship between Canada and China still has not recovered since 2018 after Canada arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on behalf of the United States over bank fraud charges. Days later, China separately detained Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor over allegations of espionage – accusations they denied. Both men were eventually released after spending more than 1,000 days in a Chinese prison, not long after Meng herself was released from house arrest.

China’s ambassador to Canada – who assumed his role in June 2024 – acknowledged those past tensions when speaking to CTV Question Period last month but insisted China is “ready to move on and look ahead.”

“We are ready to work together with Canada to bring our relationship back onto the right track,” Wang said.