OTTAWA — National Business – Canada is sending its international trade and agriculture ministers into a week of high-level meetings in China as Ottawa looks for more predictable market access and new buyers beyond the United States.
International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu is scheduled to be in China from Nov. 3 to 6. In Beijing, he is to co-chair the Canada-China Joint Economic and Trade Commission with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao. Global Affairs Canada says it will be the commission’s first meeting at the ministerial level.
Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald is already in China for meetings with Agriculture and Rural Affairs Minister Zhang Zhu, customs chief Sun Meijun and importers of Canadian food products. The agenda includes unresolved market-access issues, according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
Both ministers are expected in Shanghai for the China International Import Expo, which runs from Nov. 5 to 10. Canada is the event’s Guest Country of Honour, giving Canadian exhibitors a prominent platform in one of the world’s largest import-focused trade shows.
The trade relationship in numbers
China was Canada’s second-largest single-country merchandise trading partner in 2025, with $125.7 billion in two-way trade, according to Global Affairs Canada. Canadian exports were valued at $35 billion and imports at $90.6 billion.
Agriculture, food and seafood are central to the mission. The federal agriculture department says Canadian exports in those sectors to China totalled $6.7 billion in 2025, representing 6.4 per cent of Canada’s worldwide exports in the same categories.
Tariff relief expires at year-end
The visit builds on a March arrangement under which China suspended additional tariffs on Canadian canola meal, peas, lobster and crab until the end of 2026 and reduced the combined tariff applied to Canadian canola seed to 14.9 per cent from almost 85 per cent.
Sidhu says Canada is working toward increasing exports to China by 50 per cent by 2030. That is a government objective, not a guaranteed outcome. His department says Canadian merchandise exports to China rose 31.4 per cent to $21.5 billion in the first half of 2026.
What would count as progress
The test will be whether the meetings produce confirmed access, contracts or durable rules rather than broad expressions of interest. No Chinese government readout or new agreement from this week’s meetings was available at the research cutoff.
