Since it took office last year, the Mark Carney government has made public its willingness to foster a healthy relationship with China. And the meeting between the leaders of the two countries on the sidelines of the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Gyeongju, the Republic of Korea, in October gave added momentum to the upturn in ties.

This high-level engagement emphasized the importance of mutual benefit and practical cooperation, and helped pave the way for Carney's visit to China from Wednesday to Saturday. The visit, the first by a Canadian prime minister since 2017, presents an opportunity for Ottawa to better understand China's development vision and transform its stated commitment to healthy ties into actions.

If the Canadian side reflects on the root causes of the setbacks in bilateral relations over the past few years — the previous Justin Trudeau government's policies to contain China in lockstep with the United States — it will realize that it can avoid the same outcome by upholding its strategic autonomy in handling China-related issues. By working with Beijing to manage their differences appropriately, Ottawa can have Canada's interests better served.

The geopolitical landscape has shifted dramatically since January last year, and Canada has not been spared the trade bullying and economic coercion of its southern neighbor. Under such circumstances, the rationale behind Canada's desire for rapprochement with China is clear.

The 100 percent tariff on Chinese electric vehicles the Trudeau government imposed in 2024 following the US' lead remains. Yet the proportion of Canadians holding a positive view of China has rebounded from 16 percent at the beginning of 2025 to 27 percent recently, according to a survey quoted by Canadian media. Two other polls show that over 60 percent of Canadians support "completely eliminating" tariffs on Chinese EVs; and 31 percent of respondents believed that trade relations with China should be expanded, higher than the 7 percent in 2023. These changes in Canadian public opinion provide the social context for Ottawa to reassess and change the Trudeau government's shortsighted pro-US policy on China. Canada's recent reduction of tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum products can be viewed as a sign that the Carney government recognizes its predecessor's mistakes.

But the Carney government needs to demonstrate that its willingness to strengthen cooperation with China is not just a makeshift move to reduce the bill being charged by the US. If Ottawa still chooses to subject its China policy to the will of Washington again in the future, it will only render its previous efforts to mend ties with Beijing in vain.

The development of China-Canada relations, based on pragmatic cooperation, does not target any third party, nor should it be subject to the influence of any other country.

Beijing looks forward to taking this visit as an opportunity to enhance dialogue and communication, increase political mutual trust, expand practical cooperation, properly manage differences, address each other's concerns and consolidate the momentum of improvement in China-Canada relations to bring greater benefit for the two peoples, as a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said on Monday.

China's implementation of a new five-year plan from 2026 to 2030 will create rich opportunities for Canada to tap into the structural complementarity between the two economies and strengthen its practical cooperation with China in the latter's pursuit of high-quality development and high-standard opening-up.

Now is time for Ottawa to prove it means what it said. To that end, Ottawa should take necessary measures to facilitate bilateral trade and investment and establish a fair, open and nondiscriminatory business environment for Chinese enterprises. In the process, it should also reciprocate China's openness to enhance people-to-people exchanges, increase mutual understanding between all sectors of society, and cement public support for bilateral ties.

Enhanced coordination and cooperation between Ottawa and Beijing within such multilateral frameworks as the United Nations and G20 would also be conducive to safeguarding the international trade system and promoting greater fairness and justice in global governance.