China suspending meat imports from Canada is in accordance with the law, which will exert significant pressure on the Trudeau government ahead of the G20 summit as the case of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou continues to casts shadow over the China-Canada ties, analysts said Wednesday.

Following an investigation by Chinese authorities hailing from the department of customs on a batch of problematic pork imports from Canada, it was found that the official veterinary health certificates attached to the products were counterfeit, the Embassy of China in Canada said in response to reports about China suspending all meat imports from Canada.

Such situations are very rare occurrences, Jiao Shanwei, editor-in-chief of cngrain.com, a website specializing in grain news, told the Global Times on Wednesday. 

"Generally, large quantities of imported or exported goods will have to complete due process of scrutiny and countries which are exporting these products will also conduct a stringent monitoring," he said.

The investigation was launched after Chinese authorities found ractopamine residues in a batch of pork products exported from Canada to China. Ractopamine is added to animal food to promote leanness especially when they are being raised for meat, and its usage is banned in most countries.

China immediately suspended the import of pork products and urged the relevant Canadian authorities to carry out an investigation. 

The investigation led to the discovery of 188 such counterfeit certificates, the embassy said. 

According to Canadian authorities it is a criminal offence. Taking immediate cognizance of the incident China demanded that the Canadian government suspend the issuance of meat certificates for export to China on Tuesday.

It is a valid legal recourse taken by China to deal with substandard imports and to protect the legitimate rights of domestic consumers, Mei Xinyu, an analyst with close ties with the Ministry of Commerce, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

However, there is no denying that China has taken a relatively tough step to exert pressure on Canada, given the current intense bilateral relations between the two nations that stemmed out from arrest of Meng, he said.

"It also gives a clear and strong message to other countries not to side with the US' trade unilateralism," Mei added.

China and Canada relations have soured in recent months after Canadian authorities arrested Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei, at the behest of the US.

Lawyers of Meng delivered a comprehensive written submission on Monday to the Ministry of Justice in Canada requesting withdrawal of the extradition proceedings, which will be consistent with the rule of law, according to a statement sent to the Global Times.