Wednesday January 14, 2026 | OTTAWA, ON
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney has arrived in Beijing, China for an official visit.
He was greeted by officials upon departing his plane in Beijing today.
Tomorrow January 15 Canada’s prime minister will meet with China’s Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China, Zhao Leji.
Carney will then attend an official welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People.
Following that, Carney will meet with the Prime Minister of China, Li Qiang then witness a signing ceremony and attend an official dinner hosted by Qiang.
The headline meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping is expected to take place on Friday January 16.
Reconnecting:
This is the first visit by a Canadian prime minister to China in eight years. The last visit was by the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2017.
This week’s visit by Carney is seen as re-establishing communications with the country that is Canada’s second-largest trading partner after the United States.
Trade mission:
Carney’s Liberal government has the goal to double non-U.S. trade by 2035.
This trip to China is in the context of that, while having to balance any tensions over political differences between Canada and the United States.
Domestic political challenges:
Carney will be having to balance the needs of domestic interests at home — tariffs on large agricultural products like canola that are currently impeding Saskatchewan’s economy vs tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles that if lifted would impact the success of Ontario’s auto-manufacturing sector.
Underpinning this is a realization that various Canadian production and manufacturing sectors have become focused if not complacent.
Saskatchewan farmers could vary their crops and Ontario could broaden its vehicle or equipment manufacturing. Both of those would, of course, take years to accomplish and investment capital would be needed.
To come back from China favouring one part of Canada’s economy over another is not likely to have political success among provinces in the short term.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is in China to take part in meetings during Carney’s official visit; Ontario Premier Doug Ford is not part of the trip.
En route to China, yesterday Carney met with BC’s coastal First Nations indirectly related to getting a pipeline to the BC north coast as part of diversifying energy (oil) trade to China and the Pacific Rim.
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