The screenshot from a video shows Mark Carney arriving at a press conference after a swearing-in ceremony in Ottawa, Canada, on March 14, 2025. Photo: Xinhua

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will visit China next week, the Prime Minister's Office confirmed to local media outlet CTV News on Wednesday. 

The planned visit, which will take place from January 13 to 17, aims to elevate engagement between Ottawa and Beijing on trade, energy, agriculture and international security, the PMO said, per CTV.

It will mark the first visit to China by a Canadian prime minister since 2017, according to the report. 

Carney, looking for new export markets because of an increasingly protectionist US under President Donald Trump, is trying to patch up ties with Beijing after a severe diplomatic rupture and years of Canada barring state-owned Chinese companies from investing or operating here, Canadian media outlet The Globe and Mail reported.

The reported visit if materializes, it represents a significant development, especially in the context of the series of destabilizing situations instigated by the US, and Canada expresses a stronger imperative to intensify its cooperation with China, Lü Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Previously in October 2025, Carney said that he hopes to reset expectations in Canada's relationship with China, according to media reports. "Relationships rebuild over time when they have been … when they have changed… And so we have a lot of areas on which we can build," Carney said, adding that relations are starting from a low point and that there is significant room for improvement, according to CBC. 

China and Canada enjoy a highly complementary relationship in terms of economic structures, with especially strong potential synergies in areas such as clean energy development and new energy applications if they can discard political interfere, Lü said. 

Therefore, strengthening bilateral economic and trade relations while excluding political interference represents a highly practical imperative facing both China and Canada, the expert said. Given the regional tensions currently being fueled by the US, Canada may also discuss with China on other issues beyond strengthening economic and trade relations, Lü said.

Global Times