(FILES) (COMBO) This combination of file pictures created on October 31, 2025 shows (L) Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney speaking during a press conference on the sidelines of the 47th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Kuala Lumpur on October 27, 2025, and (R) China's President Xi Jinping taking part in a meeting at Gimhae Air Base in Busan on October 30, 2025. (Photo by Arif Kartono and ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)
Montreal: Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday will begin a state visit to China, the first in eight years for a Canadian leader, with aims to talk trade and rebuild ties after years of diplomatic tensions.
Chinese President Xi Jinping invited Carney last October during a meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, which Carney described as a "turning point" in the two nations' strained relationship.
The January 13-17 trip seeks to "strengthen cooperation in the areas of trade, energy, agriculture and international security," a Carney spokeswoman told AFP.
"It's a huge step forward," said Gordon Houlden, a former Canadian diplomat and director of the University of Alberta's China Institute.
Houlden told AFP that if "some of the commercial problems that are affecting our exports had a political origin, then solving the political origin may, or should, have some positive effect on the trade."
The last Canadian leader to visit China was Justin Trudeau, in December 2017.
Ties withered in 2018 after the arrest of a senior executive from Chinese tech giant Huawei on a US warrant in Vancouver and China's retaliatory detention of two Canadians on espionage charges.
