Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney's Diplomatic Balancing Act in China

Wed Jan 14 2026 12:23:01 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

As Prime Minister Mark Carney embarks on his first visit to China, he seeks to mend ties with Beijing while navigating the complexities of trade, human rights, and international diplomacy amid a changing geopolitical landscape.

Prime Minister Mark Carney's upcoming visit to China represents a critical moment for Canada as it strives to diversify its trade relationships amidst ongoing tensions with the US. Senior officials label the visit 'historic' as Carney aims to foster economic opportunities and improve bilateral relations, coming after a period of strained diplomatic exchanges. The dialogue will cover areas such as trade, agriculture, and international security, all while having to balance national interests against the backdrop of US-China relations.

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney is en route to China for a pivotal visit aimed at resetting ties with Beijing and finding new economic opportunities for his country outside the US.

It will not be an easy task, with pressure on Canada to balance its goal of diversifying trade without risking damage to its relationship with Donald Trump or compromising national security and human rights commitments.

But with ongoing uncertainty over Canada's trade future with the US – its largest customer – the country now finds itself seeking to repair strained relations to protect its economy.

Senior Canadian officials have described the trip, the first to China by a Canadian prime minister since 2017, as consequential and historic and part of a bold plan to double Canada's non-US exports over the next decade.

Trade will be on the agenda, along with agriculture and international security, Carney's office said. Beijing's foreign ministry said the two countries have shared interests and should work to increase people-to-people ties and cultural exchanges.

On Thursday, Carney meets the Premier of China, Li Qiang, as well as the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, Zhao Leji.

On Friday, the prime minister is scheduled to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping one-on-one, after the pair met last year on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea.

This official visit marks a significant step in the rapprochement after Canada-China relations hit a low in 2018, following the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver on a US warrant on fraud charges related to Iran sanctions violations.

More recently, China has been accused of meddling in Canada's politics, though a public inquiry on foreign interference found its impact in recent federal elections to be minimal. China has repeatedly denied allegations of foreign meddling.

Canada and China have struggled to forge meaningful ties in the past. Ottawa views China as an increasingly disruptive global power that increasingly disregards international rules and norms, though it recognises China's size and influence make some cooperation necessary.

The Carney government does not see this upcoming visit as a deviation from that view, senior Canadian government officials told reporters this week. But they added that Canada cannot achieve its objective of reducing economic reliance on the US without increasing trade with China.

Carney is said to be approaching talks with an eye on increasing collaboration in areas of mutual interest like energy and climate, and putting guardrails on areas where the two countries clash, like defence and critical minerals.

One of Canada's main objectives during this trip is to ease Chinese tariffs on Canadian canola that have hurt farmers in the country's prairie provinces.

For China, Canada is seen as an important trading partner, with trade between the two countries valued at around $118bn in 2024. But crucially for Beijing, if President Xi manages to make a deal with Carney, it would give China more influence in a country that is on America's doorstep.