At the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will pay an official visit to China from January 14 to 17.

The upcoming visit marks the first trip to China by a Canadian prime minister in eight years, highlighting the recent warming of bilateral ties.

China attaches high importance to the visit, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Monday while detailing the visit at a regular press briefing. She added that the sound and steady development of China-Canada relations serves the common interests of the two countries and their peoples.

Through the joint efforts of both sides, China-Canada relations have shown positive momentum toward recovery and improvement since last year.

In October 2025, the leaders of China and Canada met on the sidelines of the 32nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in South Korea, with both sides agreeing to resume exchanges and cooperation in various fields, promote the resolution of specific economic and trade issues of mutual concern, and jointly advance the development of the China-Canada strategic partnership.

The engagement was preceded by a meeting between Premier Li and Carney on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly a month earlier, followed by visits to China by senior Canadian officials, including the foreign minister.

Expressing readiness to work with Canada to maintain and develop the positive momentum, while addressing each other's economic and trade concerns through dialogue and consultation, Li called on the two sides to deepen and expand mutually beneficial cooperation in energy, green development, tourism and other fields to bring more benefits to the two peoples.

As a gesture of goodwill, China resumed group tour services for Chinese citizens traveling to Canada through travel agencies in November, aiming to further enhance people-to-people exchanges between the two countries and foster mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples.

China hopes that, through Prime Minister Carney's upcoming visit, the two sides will step up dialogue and communication, enhance political mutual trust, expand practical cooperation, properly handle differences, address each other's concerns, consolidate the momentum in the turnaround of China-Canada relations, and deliver more benefits to the two peoples, Mao said.

China has long been Canada's second-largest trading partner. According to China's General Administration of Customs, from January to August 2025, bilateral trade between China and Canada reached $61.74 billion, a year-on-year increase of 7.1 percent.

In addition to meeting with Chinese leaders, Carney's visit will also include exchanges with business representatives aimed at promoting bilateral cooperation in trade, energy, agriculture, and international security to a new level.

Several key cabinet members accompany Carney on this trip to China. The delegation includes Foreign Minister Anita Anand, Minister of Industry Melanie Joly, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson, Minister of International Trade Maninder Sidhu, and Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Heath MacDonald.

Against the backdrop of rising unilateralism, high-level engagement between China and Canada once again underscores the importance of strengthening communication and cooperation among countries, which is expected to send a positive message to the world and inject greater confidence and stability not only into bilateral but also into broader economic and trade cooperation.

MacDonald visited China last November – a move that not only promoted the resumption of agricultural cooperation dialogue between the two countries, but also gave Canadian farmers and canola exporters hope for market recovery.

MacDonald said that Canada's relationship with China is "long-standing" and that China remains an important commercial market for Canadian businesses.

Canada is committed to engaging in "constructive dialogue" with China on bilateral trade matters, he said, adding that he is committed to keeping the conversation going.

In a latest poll released by Ipsos shows that more than half of Canadians express support for closer trade ties and economic agreements with China. The current numbers reflect a growing recognition that Canada should diversify its trading relationships amid uncertainty in its relationship with the US, according to Ipsos.