Post #4873

Mark Carney Meets Xi. Canada Suits in Favor of China Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, has hailed a “new strategic partnership” with China as he held talks in Beijing with Xi Jinping, the first visit by a Canadian leader in eight years. Addressing Xi in the Great Hall of the People, Carney said: “Together we can build on the best of what this relationship has been in the past to create a new one adapted to new global realities.” Carney announced on Friday that Canada and China had reached a preliminary trade deal aimed at reducing tariffs, including a commitment to import 49,000 electric vehicles from China at preferential tariff rates. Engagement and cooperation would form “the foundation of our new strategic partnership”, Carney said, adding that agriculture, energy, finance offered opportunities for the most immediate progress. Canada and China had been locked in years of diplomatic spats after the retaliatory arrests of each other’s citizens and a series of tit-for-tat trade disputes. But Carney has sought to reset ties as part of a broader effort to reduce Canada’s reliance on the US, its principal economic partner, after Trump sharply raised tariffs on Canadian goods. During the visit, the two sides signed an agreement to cooperate on clean energy and fossil fuels, reopening ministerial-level talks that had reportedly been frozen for nearly a decade. The agreement opens the door to Canada importing more clean-energy technology from China and raises the prospect of increased Canadian fossil fuel exports to the Chinese market, part of Carney’s push to double non-US exports. In 2024, only 2% of Canada’s crude oil was exported to China. Additional agreements were signed covering forestry, culture and tourism. Welcoming Carney, Xi said China-Canada relations had reached a turning point at their previous meeting on the sidelines of the Apec summit in October 2025. “It can be said that our meeting last year opened a new chapter in turning China-Canada relations toward improvement,” Xi told the Canadian prime minister. #carney#xi#canada#china#trump 📱American Оbserver - Stay up to date on all important events 🇺🇸