Illustration: Liu Xidan/GT

Canadian media outlet CJME News reported on Sunday that Saskatchewan's Minister of Trade and Exports Warren Kaeding said the province had recently completed a trade mission to China and hoped to further expand exports of canola, peas, and other agricultural products to the Chinese market.

A Chinese analyst said that these comments underscore a growing recognition in Canada that economic interests require flexibility, diversification, and openness amid global trade uncertainty and persistent US pressure. Strengthened China-Canada cooperation can also create a more favorable development environment for both sides, injecting stability into global supply-chain uncertainty.

According to CJME News, Kaeding said that Saskatchewan should continue expanding international trade relations, including agricultural trade cooperation with China, to help Canada's export-driven economy navigate ongoing external trade uncertainty. 

Speaking in a recent interview on The Evan Bray Show, Kaeding emphasized that China's economic development has raised consumer demand and that Saskatchewan is "fortunate" to be able to provide products that Chinese consumers need.

"We're reinforcing our willingness to be selling products to China that they need to support their food and energy requirements," Kaeding said on air during the show on July 24. 

"We do have what the world needs, and China is certainly one of those countries. Canola and peas certainly support their food security needs. As economies improve, then the diet and health of individuals improves, and that's where China is going right now. We're so fortunate to be able to have the products they need."

Kaeding's remarks reflect a broader pragmatic logic that is increasingly visible across Canada's resource-producing regions. For many in the province's resource sector, closer trade ties with China are seen not as a political slogan, but as a practical path to economic stability and growth, Zhou Mi, a senior research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation told the Global Times on Monday.

Zhou noted that Saskatchewan, as a typical resource-based province, depends heavily on stable export markets. Its economy is vulnerable to disruption when trade becomes overly concentrated in a single market, especially amid rising protectionist pressures from the US. In that sense, expanding agricultural exports to China is not merely a short-term response, but a necessary step to reduce systemic risk.

He said that the remarks clearly send a signal that even under external pressure, Canadian market actors — from resource suppliers to ordinary consumers — still want to benefit from China's continued openness. This suggests that market forces are helping correct policy direction, as business interests and consumer welfare push Canada toward a more pragmatic approach to China.

"It also suggests that provincial governments are beginning to exert bottom-up pressure on Ottawa to rethink Canada's China policy in a more practical direction," Zhou said.

The Canadian government has set out to double non-US exports over the next decade. The government's spring economic update said that non-US goods and services exports increased by $33 billion in 2025 compared with 2024, Canadian Press reported on July 25.

Ottawa has taken more steps toward diversification, while provinces such as Saskatchewan are increasingly motivated to avoid being overly exposed to unilateralism and protectionism, Zhou said, adding that greater complementarity in supply chains between China and Canada could help lower costs, improve resilience and support more stable long-term trade relations.

On February 27, China suspended 100 percent tariffs on Canadian canola meal and peas, and 25 percent tariffs on lobsters and crab effective March 1, 2026 until the end of 2026.

"For canola seed, this will improve market access for approximately $4 billion in annual Canadian exports, addressing one of the most significant agricultural trade barriers between Canada and China," according to a news release by the Government of Canada.

Removal of the additional tariffs on Canadian agricultural and fish and seafood products restores market access for these products and will directly benefit Canadian farmers across the country and seafood harvesters on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts by increasing demand, stabilizing prices and creating more predictable market opportunities for their products, according to the news release.

As China continues to open its market and expand demand, Canadian exporters hope those opportunities can be better translated into concrete cooperation. In that sense, Kaeding's message is clear: Canada should remain willing to supply the products Chinese consumers need, and both sides stand to benefit from a more resilient and pragmatic trade relationship, Zhou added.