Mark Carney’s Beijing Mission: Pushing Canada’s Trade Ties Beyond the U.S. in Meeting with Xi Jinping

Mark Carney just sat down with Xi Jinping in Beijing—and the message was clear: Canada's economic future needs more than just its southern neighbor.

The High-Stakes Handshake

This wasn't a courtesy call. It was a strategic pivot. Carney, the former central banker turned geopolitical envoy, landed in Beijing with a single directive: diversify. The U.S. trade relationship, long the bedrock, now looks like a single point of failure in an increasingly fragmented world. The meeting with China's top leader signals a deliberate, high-level push to build new bridges—or at least reinforce the old ones before the geopolitical weather turns.

Beyond the Border

Forget 'America First.' Ottawa's playbook now reads 'Anyone Else, Too.' The calculus is straightforward: over-reliance on one market is a classic portfolio blunder. Whether it's critical minerals, agri-tech, or clean energy, Canada is officially open for business elsewhere. The Beijing summit serves as the loudest declaration yet that the rules of economic engagement are being rewritten in real-time—no waiting for Wall Street's permission.

The New Trade Realpolitik

This move cuts through the usual diplomatic fog. It's a pragmatic, maybe even cynical, recognition that in today's finance, loyalty is measured in transaction volume, not treaties. While traditionalists clutch their pearls over 'decoupling,' practitioners like Carney are busy recoupling—just on more advantageous, distributed terms. It's the geopolitical equivalent of hedging your bets with a well-timed short.

One thing's certain: when a financial heavyweight like Carney bypasses the usual channels to broker face-time with Xi, it means the old maps are obsolete. The future of trade isn't about choosing one superpower over another—it's about building a network that survives when any single node goes down. And if that makes a few protectionist lobbyists sweat? Consider it a feature, not a bug.

Beijing and Ottawa test a second try at diplomacy

China sees the trip as a chance to flip one of Washington’s closest allies.Xi wants to bring Canada closer while TRUMP continues to alienate even traditional partners.And there’s history here.

The last time things got heated was back in 2018, when Chinese authorities detained two Canadians. That was after Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s CFO, got arrested in Canada on a U.S. request. Beijing didn’t take that lightly.

Things only started to thaw this past June, when Carney and Premier Li Qiang agreed to set up regular talks again.Carney met Xi again in October at the ASEAN summit.

Now, in Beijing, it looks like both sides want to get serious. China’s foreign minister Wang Yi told Canadian foreign minister Anita Anand that Carney’s visit “is of pivotal and symbolic significance for bilateral relations.” He added that China wants to “strengthen communication with Canada, enhance trust, eliminate interference, deepen co-operation.”

Carney also met with Li again this week and with Zhao Leji, who heads China’s rubber-stamp parliament.He posted on X afterward, thanking Li for the “warm welcome” and said they talked about working together to build “stronger, more sustainable economies.”

Carney said Canada and China have common ground in clean energy, agriculture, and finance.

Zhao Minghao, a professor in Shanghai, said: “Most U.S. allies are doing some de-risking from the U.S., so this is a very important opportunity for China to warm up its ties with Canada.”

But don’t mistake all this smiling for a full reset. There’s still tension. Canada’s spy agency says China interfered in Canadian elections, harassed Chinese-Canadian citizens, especially Hong Kong activists, and is the country’s top cyber threat.

Carney is also under pressure at home. Farmers and fishermen want him to fix the damage from Chinese tariffs slapped on canola, lobsters, and other exports last year. On top of that, Ottawa has been playing hardball too.

Since October 2024, Canada has slapped tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and steel, kicked TikTok’s offices out of the country, and banned cameras made by Hikvision.

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