Chinese foreign minister’s visit to Canada a ‘positive sign’: trade minister

Carney, who travelled to Beijing in January, told reporters Wednesday he looks forward to the minister’s visit and that he will meet with him personally.

He said the visit will offer a “valuable exchange of views.”

Relations between the Canadian and Chinese governments deteriorated after the detention of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou by Canada in 2018 and the subsequent detention of Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig in China.

In January, after a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Carney secured tariff relief for Canadian agricultural sectors, including canola and seafood. In exchange, Canada agreed to drop the 100 per cent tariff on Chinese electric vehicles and allow up to 49,000 Chinese EVs into the country at a reduced tariff rate of 6.1 per cent.

Sidhu, who visited China last month, said he met with EV companies and had conversations about Canada’s supply chains.

“We welcome Chinese EVs to Canada, but we want you to make those in Canada, eventually using Canadian supply chains, using Canadian workers,” he said. “The Chinese have done this with Spain, with Hungary, with the U.K., with many like-minded partners and we’d like them to do the same thing here in Canada.”

The federal government is looking to diversify its trade relationships and has set out to double non-U.S. exports over the next decade.

Carney’s government also has boasted about signing 20 strategic trade and defence agreements around the world over the past year.

The prime minister has travelled to 25 countries on 17 international trips since March 2025, including China and India, two countries that have had strained relations with Canada in recent years.

As part of the government’s diversification plans, Sidhu is leading a trade delegation to Japan next month.

He said “sign-up has gone through the roof” and that it will be Canada’s largest-ever trade delegation to the Indo-Pacific.

“You can see the demand from Canadian businesses on exporting to non-U.S. markets and it’s huge and we’re going to help fulfil that appetite by taking businesses there and opening up some doors in Japan,” he said.

“There’s a lot of conversation around clean tech, around defence, around agri-food and many other key sectors. Japan wants to do more with Canada, we want to do more with Japan, we’re both strong economies.”

Opposition MPs have called on the Liberal government in recent weeks to disclose the full text of a memorandum of understanding between the RCMP and China’s Ministry of Public Security.

NDP public safety critic Jenny Kwan said in an open letter earlier this month that she wants to know if safeguards are in place to prevent Canadian information from being used against dissidents, human rights defenders, journalists or diaspora communities.

She said public statements indicate the memorandum concerns co-operation on transnational crime, cybercrime, narcotics and corruption, and the establishment of bilateral law enforcement working groups.

Carney said Wednesday that the government doesn’t make a habit of releasing security agreements with other governments “for reasons of operational security.”

“That is standard practice for this government, previous governments as well,” he said. “So, I don’t see a reason to change that in this circumstance.”

A release from Global Affairs Canada says more than 1.7 million Canadian residents are of Chinese origin, and tourism flows and ongoing cultural exchanges enrich bilateral linkages.

It also says China remains a critical commercial market for Canadian businesses, with merchandise exports reaching $34.4 billion in 2025, and overall, two-way bilateral merchandise trade in 2025 reaching $125.1 billion.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 27, 2026.

—With files from Jim Bronskill

Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Chinese foreign minister’s visit to Canada a ‘positive sign’: trade minister

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