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leader of China And Canada on Friday took a step towards improving long-broken relations between their countries.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Canadian Prime Minister mark carneyThe meeting in South Korea on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Summit called for improving relations in a practical and constructive manner, according to both sides.
“The leaders agreed that their meeting marked an important turning point in bilateral relations,” a Canadian statement said.
Xi was quoted as saying that thanks to the joint efforts of both sides, there are signs of improvement in relations.
“We are willing to work together with Canada to take this meeting as an opportunity to promote the return of bilateral relations to a healthy, stable and sustainable track as soon as possible,” Xi said, according to an official report distributed by China’s state media.
The Canadian statement said without giving a date that Carney, who became prime minister in March, had accepted Xi’s invitation to visit China.
Relations declined in late 2018 when Canadian authorities arrested a senior executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei as part of an extradition agreement with the United States. China then arrested two Canadian citizens and charged them with espionage.
Relations did not improve much after the release in 2021 of two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, and the Chinese executive, Meng Wenzhou, the daughter of Huawei’s founder.
Recently, relations have been shaken by Canada’s decision to impose 100% tariffs on electric vehicles from China in 2024 and 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum. China has offered to remove its import taxes on some Canadian products if Canada removes EV tariffs.
The Canadian statement said the two leaders directed their officials to move quickly to resolve trade issues and troubles and discussed solutions for specific products such as EVs, canola and seafood.
Xi called for increased “pragmatic” cooperation in areas such as economy, trade and energy. Both Canada and China have been affected by the tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.