China’s foreign minister Wang Yi says China could more than double Canadian exports by 2030 if Ottawa maintains “stable and positive” policies toward Beijing, during his first visit to Canada in a decade amid a broader push to stabilize bilateral ties. 

“China-Canada relations have experienced some twists and turns in the past few years,” Wang said in Mandarin during opening remarks alongside Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand at Global Affairs Canada. 

“Under the strategic guidance of the leaders of both countries, our relations have restarted,” Wang said. 

The meeting comes days after a Canadian warship transited the Taiwan Strait despite warnings from Beijing against sailing through the waterway. 

While the event was not open to questions from reporters, one journalist shouted a question to Wang asking for his reaction to the transit, during a pooled photo opportunity.  He did not respond. 

At their opening remark, Anand pointed to renewed momentum in bilateral ties following Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit to Beijing in January, where the two countries agreed to deepen engagement, including eliminating some tariffs on Canadian agricultural goods and Chinese EVs. 

“The Canada-China economic relationship is significant,” Anand said, adding that Canada aims to increase exports to China by 50 per cent by 2030 while safeguarding Canada’s economic and national security interests. 

Anand added that total bilateral trade between the two countries reached $125.1 billion in 2025. 

‘Closed to media’

Speaking at an outdoor press conference on Friday, Opposition Leader Pierre Poilievre accused Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government of being reluctant to take actions that could make “Beijing unhappy.” 

The criticism came after the Prime Minister’s Office initially told media that Wang’s meeting with Carney would be closed to reporters because the visit was considered a  “courtesy call.” 

The Chinese delegation included its own official photographer, prompting PMO to only allowing  still photographers from Canadian Press and Postmedia to attend.

Following pushback from the Parliamentary Press Gallery, a small media pool was ultimately permitted to briefly attend the start of the meeting between Carney and Wang at the prime minister’s office on Wellington St.  Media were then asked to leave the room after 30 seconds, according to the Canadian Press’s pool note. 

“He claimed that we were going to have a full rupture with the United States in favour of a strategic partnership for a new world order with the dictatorship in Beijing. Of course, Mr. Carney is in a terrible conflict of interest,” Poilievre said. 

The Bloc’s foreign affairs critic Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe echoed a similar sentiment. 

He said, in French, the Liberals have completely “protected” the Chinese regime by barring the media from asking questions. 

“Canada has once again bowed to the Xi Jinping regime,” Brunelle-Duceppe said.