BEIJING — Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand met with her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, in Beijing, who told Anand that Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit marks a turning point in Canada-China relations.

Wang says the progress between the two countries will lead to opening up new prospects for relations amid unprecedented and complex changes taking place in the world.

The meeting comes ahead of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s bilateral meeting scheduled for Friday with President Xi Jinping.

Carney is set to meet with the second and third most powerful leaders in Beijing’s communist system, including the premier who oversees China’s economy and the chairman of the national congress.

The Liberals are under pressure to convince Beijing to repeal or lower agricultural tariffs hurting Atlantic and western provinces — but that would result in some sort of trade-off with Canada’s levies on Chinese electric vehicles that Ontario Premier Doug Ford maintains are essential to protecting domestic jobs.

Anand has said the Liberals are seeking to advance economic benefits for all regions of Canada through this Beijing visit — and while the trip has a heavy trade focus, she says this will touch on issues that go beyond just economic concerns.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 15, 2026.

Kyle Duggan, The Canadian Press