Henry Huiyao Wang: Why China-Canada trade and global cooperation are now ripe for progress

CCG President writes in the South China Morning Post that China and Canada now have a window to further deepen ties

Below is the latest opinion column in the South China Morning Post by Henry Huiyao Wang, Founder and President of the Center for China and Globalization (CCG).

Opinion | Why China-Canada trade and global cooperation are now ripe for progress

After the Canadian prime minister’s visit to Beijing, both sides have a window to deepen trade and cooperate on global governance

The global landscape is undergoing profound rupture. The United States has blatantly interfered in the internal affairs of Venezuela through direct military action and openly covets Greenland. US President Donald Trump has called Canada the “51st state” of his country and threatened to “take back” the Panama Canal. The US is undermining the core assumptions that have underpinned the Western alliance system.

Against this backdrop, Canada’s policy community broadly and Prime Minister Mark Carney specifically have begun to look for alternatives should Canada’s traditional ally and primary trading partner continue to be unreliable.

China-Canada relations were buoyed by the October meeting between President Xi Jinping and Carney on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea. Now, with Carney’s visit to Beijing, the first by a Canadian prime minister in eight years, it seems that Canada is re-examining its place in the world.

This re-examination, however, is more than a tactical pivot. Carney has described the US-Canada relationship as “multifaceted” and “much deeper, much broader” than Canada’s relations with China. But he said China and Canada have had a “candid and … frank dialogue” that leads to a “more predictable and effective relationship”.

In policy circles, a new consensus has been emerging on China, perhaps best encapsulated by the Expert Group on Canada-China Relations report published last year. The report, “Between the Eagle and the Dragon,” advocates a stance of “selective engagement”, which would allow the two countries to engage pragmatically on areas of mutual benefit.

Such a view aligns with recent shifts in Canadian public opinion. Although overall favourability towards China remains low, support for placing greater emphasis on economic relations with China has risen as the US is increasingly seen to be an erratic and sometimes worrying partner.

This stance is being actualised by the newly announced China-Canada strategic partnership built on five pillars: energy, economic and trade cooperation, public safety and security, multilateralism, and culture and people-to-people ties.

What do these first steps look like in practical terms? First, on trade, Canada has agreed to allow up to 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles into its market at a preferential tariff rate of 6.1 per cent while China will reduce tariffs on Canadian canola from roughly 85 per cent to around 15 per cent.

Second is energy cooperation, both green and conventional. China and Canada have agreed to launch a Ministerial Energy Dialogue, in addition to existing progress on Canadian investment in energy exports to Asia. These include projects such as the Trans Mountain Expansion pipeline, which allows for far greater throughput to ports in British Columbia, from where energy products can be shipped across the Pacific.

Vancouver’s port authority said that in the first half of 2025, about 60 per cent of the crude export volumes went to China. Meanwhile, LNG Canada has entered its delivery phase, with a planned 50 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas each year destined for Asia.

Third, on people-to-people relations, China will soon accept Canadian travellers visa-free. Canada for its part welcomes group tours for Chinese citizens to Canada. Both sides not only welcome the increase in direct flights and are committed to facilitating more but plan to restart the Joint Committee on Culture.

Fourth is a shared commitment to multilateralism. Both sides reaffirmed support for the central role of the United Nations and will continue to work on the World Trade Organization-based trading system and on achieving practical reform of the body at the coming 14th Ministerial Conference.

Fifth, a memorandum of understanding was signed on cooperation between the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and China’s Ministry of Public Security.

Both governments have reaffirmed the “one-China” policy as well as signed a third agreement to extend and amend the renminbi-Canadian dollar bilateral currency swap arrangement between their central banks.

The two sides should also continue to strengthen cooperation in several areas. The first is trade and investment. The complementarity of China–Canada economic structures remains intact and the private sectors of both countries are more than ready to engage further with each other, as demonstrated at the Canada China Business Council’s annual conference and Centre for China and Globalisation’s “China-Canada Economic and Trade Cooperation” round table in Beijing. Further efforts to reduce trade barriers as well as firmer cooperation with regards to Chinese investment in Canada would be an easy starting point.

Second, the diaspora in both countries should be better leveraged. Mandarin is Canada’s fourth most spoken language. There are about 1.7 million Chinese people living in Canada – 4.7 per cent of the national population. In Hong Kong, about 300,000 residents hold Canadian identity documents. These groups highlight the deeply human personal networks that connect both societies and serve as vital bridges for exchange.

China and Canada should further work on ushering in a new era of multilateralism, one based on pragmatism and the realities of our changed geopolitical landscape. While affirming the centrality of the UN and committing to the reform of institutions like the WTO represents a start, both countries can further tackle the problems of global governance. An area for further cooperation could be their shared interest in UN reform or plurilateral frameworks to support Global South development.

Together, China and Canada can face the challenging tides of a changing world. With political will, pragmatic cooperation and mutual respect, the time has come to move decisively, while the iron is hot.