China's top diplomat says Canada ties "fully restored" during Ottawa visit

Ottawa, Canada - China's top diplomat said during a trip to Ottawa that high-level political and security talks with Canada would resume, Beijing's foreign ministry said on Saturday, in a further sign of improving ties.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney (r.) meets with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in his office in Ottawa on May 29, 2026.   © SPENCER COLBY / POOL / AFP

The relationship has warmed in recent months even as Ottawa's ties with traditional ally Washington have soured following Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing in January.

Wang Yi's short visit to Canada, which began on Thursday, was the first by a Chinese foreign minister in a decade.

"Bilateral relations have set sail anew, exchanges and cooperation across all fields have been fully restored and the major economic and trade concerns of both sides have been properly addressed," Wang told his Canadian counterpart Anita Anand, according to the Chinese foreign ministry.

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"The two sides agreed... to resume consultations on political and security issues at the foreign ministry level, as well as high-level dialogue on national security and the rule of law," the statement said.

Beijing lowered some duties on Canadian goods this year, while Ottawa agreed to import tens of thousands of Chinese electric vehicles under preferential tariffs.

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Chinese-Canadian relations on the mend

Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand (r.) shakes hands with China's Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi ahead of a bilateral meeting in Ottawa on May 29, 2026.   © DAVE CHAN / AFP

Canada's arrest of a Chinese executive at Huawei in 2018 led China to retaliate, plunging relations into a deep freeze.

Ties were strained further over allegations of Chinese interference in Canadian elections in 2019 and 2021, which Beijing denied.

Wang acknowledged that there had been "twists and turns" in the China-Canada relationship over the past several years.

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According to China's foreign ministry, Anand told Wang that Canada was "looking forward to increasing exports to China by 50% before 2030."

Bilateral trade between the countries reached nearly $90 billion in 2025, up 4.9% year-on-year, according to analysis by the University of Alberta, as Canadian exports to China surged by 13.8%.