Overview
- The four-day trip includes meetings with Premier Li Qiang and President Xi Jinping as Ottawa seeks to reset relations.
- Canadian officials say they hope for trade movement but do not expect China to lift retaliatory tariffs during the visit.
- Chinese state media are urging Ottawa to pursue "strategic autonomy" from Washington as Canada looks to diversify beyond the U.S. market.
- Relations have frayed since a 2018 arrest tied to a U.S. request and worsened after Canada’s 2024 100% tariff on China-made EVs, which drew Chinese duties on canola, seafood, and pork.
- Chinese scholars caution the visit’s impact will be limited given Canada’s deep U.S. ties and differences with Beijing over trade, human rights, and Taiwan.