Published: 14:23, January 16, 2026 | Updated: 17:52, January 16, 2026
Xi urges China, Canada to advance new strategic partnership
By Xinhua
Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney shake hands at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Jan 16, 2026. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

BEIJING – President Xi Jinping met with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in the Chinese capital, Beijing, on Friday.

Xi said their meeting in October last year in Gyeongju, Republic of Korea, opened a new phase of positive development in China-Canada relations, and both sides conducted in-depth discussions on restoring and resuming cooperation across various fields, and achieved positive outcomes.

The healthy and stable development of China-Canada relations is in the common interests of the two countries and also conducive to world peace, stability, development and prosperity, he added.

He called on China and Canada to advance the building of a new strategic partnership with a sense of responsibility toward history, the people and the world.

Both sides should promote China-Canada relations onto a path of healthy, stable and sustainable development to better benefit the peoples of both countries, said the Chinese leader.

RELATED ARTICLES

Putting forward four proposals regarding China-Canada relations, Xi said both countries should be partners of mutual respect. Over the past 55 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the bilateral relations have gone through ups and downs, offering valuable historical experience and practical insights.

Despite different national conditions, both countries should respect each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity, respect the political systems and development paths they have chosen respectively, and adhere to the correct way of getting along with each other, he said.

President Xi Jinping (seventh left) meets with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney (seventh right) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Jan 16, 2026. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

China and Canada should be partners in common development, he said. The essence of China-Canada economic and trade relations is mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, with both sides benefiting from cooperation. China's high-quality development and high-level opening up will continue to provide new opportunities and expand new space for China-Canada cooperation, he added.

Xi called on both sides to increase efforts to promote cooperation and reduce the negative list, thereby strengthening the bond of shared interests through deeper and broader cooperation.

The two countries should be partners of mutual trust, he said. Noting that people-to-people connectivity is the most fundamental, solid and lasting form of interconnection, he urged both sides to encourage exchanges and cooperation in education, culture, tourism, sports and sub-national areas, facilitate personnel exchanges and consolidate the popular will foundation.

Xi proposed that China and Canada should be partners in collaboration. A divided world cannot address the common challenges facing humanity, he said, adding that the solution lies in upholding and practicing true multilateralism and promoting the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.

China is willing to enhance communication and coordination with Canada within the frameworks of the United Nations, the G20 and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation to jointly address global challenges, Xi said.

Carney arrived in Beijing on Wednesday for a four-day official visit to China, the first trip to the country by a Canadian prime minister in eight years, highlighting the recent warming of bilateral ties.