Indeed, nowadays Chinese Ambassador to Canada, Cong Peiwu, and former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney, are busy promoting initiatives to deepen relations between China and Canada. Their joint project is supposed to improve bilateral relations. The conversations come as both nations navigate a turbulent global landscape, where citizens expect their leaders to provide stability and opportunities. Wang Yi, China’s Foreign Minister, emphasized the need for prompt action to realize the agreed-upon collaborations, stating, “That requires us to lose no time and work faster to achieve more outcomes.”
Wang emphasized the two countries’ mutually beneficial relationship during a press briefing last week. He pointed out that the two countries have complementary strengths with potential for synergistic and mutual benefits. “The character of China-Canada relationship is win-win and mutual benefit. China and Canada are highly complementary with each other,” Wang asserted. This feeling is testament to the immense opportunity for partnership between sectors—namely finance, energy, and tourism.
Now Wang and Carney are preparing for an even more elevated conversation. They are especially warmly disposed, one gets the impression, in the run up to Carney’s forthcoming return to China for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen this November. Over the next ten months, both sides have an opportunity to deepen their collaboration, particularly following recent agreements which aim to reboot working groups on several issues.
China, Canada sign new memorandums of understanding and cooperation on… A sign of the times? These memoranda prioritize collaboration in sectors, like finance, lumber, oil, green technology and tourism. Critical sectors like artificial intelligence, critical minerals and defense were glaringly absent from these talks. Wang was hopeful that, provided both countries operated with good faith, they would be able to convert these accords into concrete results. “As long as both China and Canada have adequate sincerity, both sides will be able to translate the important outcomes into reality,” he stated.
Even through these collaborative processes, broader concerns remain in Canada. Foreign interference, human rights abuses and territorial aggression in the South China Sea have kept these concerns at a fever pitch. Yet these tensions all threaten to make this central international relationship more difficult in the years to come. Analysts have urged Canada to engage with China cautiously, recommending that it raise concerns about human rights while strategically recalibrating its approach.
Wang recognized these differences but stressed the potential for a mutually successful relationship. There’s tremendous potential, high hopes and great possibilities for China and Canada to make full use of our respective complementary strengths and achieve win-win outcomes. Naturally, we are fully aware of the many differences between China and Canada, as he challenged those assembled. We should not ignore those differences.
Now, the Canadian government is full steam ahead towards a new Indo-Pacific strategy. This strategy has ignited advocacy for closer military ties with a number of Asian countries. This plan could have a major impact on how Canada chooses to proceed in its relationship with China in the future. Communications Director Christine Wang reiterated that the ball is in Canada’s court to set the terms of its new regional approach. He further emphasized the need for clarity as this relationship is still developing.
As each country continues to scan the horizon, exchanges in the years to come promise to deepen their friendship. Wang said he’s hopeful legislators will do more to improve relations between China and Canada. He is excited for his upcoming meeting with Anita Anand, Canada’s Minister of National Defence later this year.
Wang stressed that on both sides, leaders need to act swiftly and decisively to meet the demands of their citizenry. He encouraged them to lead, as he described the path forged by his country’s founders.
