Will Canadian PM Fulfill New Year's Xi Jinping Invitation In China?

Canadian PM Mark Carney met Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of APEC 2025 Summit in South Korea, Friday 31 October. (X @MarkJCarney)

JAKARTA - Canada and China on Friday, October 31 held the first formal talks between leaders of the two countries since it last took place in 2017.

Canadian Prime Minister (PM) Mark Carney on Saturday 1 November revealed his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC 2025 summit in South Korea as a "turnpoint" in bilateral relations between the two countries.

"We have now paved the way forward to addressing recent issues," Carney told reporters in South Korea's city of Gyeongju on Saturday, quoted by AFP.

"Our overall discussions are constructive," he added.

Carney said when he met Xi Jinping he received an invitation to visit China during a "new year" moment.

According to Carney, the most important thing of all is a follow-up to meetings so that Canadian-China relations are getting stronger, especially in cooperation and economic growth.

"I direct our ministers and officials to work together to find solutions to current challenges and to identify areas for cooperation and growth," he said.

Canada and China are both known to be trapped in US President Donald Trump's government tariff sanctions.

For Canada, Trump is tough. In August 2025, Trump set a 35 percent tariff on products from Canada that are not related to the Canadian 'Mexico' Agreement (USMCA).

In addition, Trump's tariff on the steel and aluminum sector imposes a tariff of 50 percent for Canada, making the country's economy affected.

On Saturday, October 25, Trump again announced a 10 percent increase in Canadian goods tariffs with the cancellation of all trade negotiations following a commercial visit to the US Government broadcast in Otario, Canada.