Prime Minister Mark Carney landed in Beijing on Wednesday for the first visit by a Canadian prime minister to China in eight years — part of his government’s efforts to rebuild Canada’s fractured relationship with China and expand non-U.S. trade.
After declaring in 2022 that China is a “disruptive global power” that does not share Canada’s values, the Liberal government is now shifting its China policy in the face of U.S. President Donald Trump’s attempts to upend global trade with tariffs.
Carney is in Beijing with several members of his cabinet, including Energy Minister Tim Hodgson and Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand.
“This is a new government with a new prime minister, a new foreign policy and a new geopolitical environment,” Anand told reporters in Beijing when asked if she still views China as a disruptive power.
“In this moment of economic stress for our country, it is necessary for us to diversify our trading partners and to grow non-U.S. trade by at least 50 per cent over the next 10 years.”
Here is a look at some scenes from their arrival in Beijing.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 14, 2026.
The Canadian Press
