BEIJING: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Chinese President Xi Jinping began talks in Beijing on Friday, marking the first meeting between the countries\u2019 leaders in China\u2019s capital in eight years.<\/p>\n
Carney lauded a \u201cnew strategic partnership\u201d between the two countries after he arrived for the talks at the Great Hall of the People.<\/p>\n
Following President Donald Trump\u2019s aggressive tariffs on Canadian products, Carney has sought to reduce his country\u2019s economic reliance on its main market, the United States.<\/p>\n
Carney told Xi that \u201ctogether, we can build the best of what this relationship has been in the past to create a new one.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAgriculture, energy, finance, that\u2019s where we can make the most immediate progress,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Xi welcomed Carney and his delegation, saying that China-Canada relations were at a turning point after their last meeting at an APAC summit in October.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt can be said that our meeting last year opened a new chapter in turning China-Canada relations toward improvement,\u201d Xi told Carney.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe healthy and stable development of China-Canada relations serves the common interests of our two countries,\u201d he said, adding he was \u201cglad\u201d to see discussions over the last few months to restore cooperation.<\/p>\n
Officials from both countries have been in talks to lower tariffs, but an agreement has yet to be reached.<\/p>\n
Carney, who on Thursday met with Premier Li Qiang, is also scheduled to hold talks with business leaders to discuss trade.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BEIJING: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Chinese President Xi Jinping began talks in Beijing on Friday, marking the first meeting between the countries\u2019 leaders in China\u2019s capital in eight years. Carney lauded a \u201cnew strategic partnership\u201d between the two countries after he arrived for the talks at the Great Hall of the People. Following […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":525956,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-525937","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n