Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will arrive in China on Wednesday for the first visit by a Canadian leader in nearly a decade, a trip aimed at rebuilding fractured relations with the world's second-largest economy as Ottawa seeks to reduce its dependence on the United States.

The visit, which will run through Saturday, comes as Canada faces mounting economic pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and his repeated musings that Canada could become "the 51st state." Carney has set an ambitious goal to double Canada's non-American exports over the next decade.

"At a time of global trade disruption, Canada is focused on building a more competitive, sustainable and independent economy," Carney said in a statement. "We're forging new partnerships around the world to transform our economy from one that has been reliant on a single trade partner."

Carney will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday. After departing China, he will visit Qatar before attending the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Seeking to 'recalibrate' the relationship

Liberal MP Kody Blois, who serves as parliamentary secretary to the prime minister and is part of a large Canadian delegation spending a few days in China, said Carney is seeking to "recalibrate" the relationship with Beijing.

"When we think about China being the second-largest economy in the world, certainly the most populous, and one that has great global influence, we think, and the prime minister believes, it's important that we're at least getting at the table and having the dialogue," Blois told CBC News in an interview aired on January 11.

The visit builds on diplomatic groundwork laid in recent months. Carney met Xi on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea in late October, where the Chinese leader described the encounter as a "turning point" in the relationship.

A readout from the Prime Minister's Office said the "leaders agreed that their meeting marked a turning point."

Years of frozen relations

Relations between Canada and China were put on ice in late 2018 when Canada executed a U.S. extradition warrant against Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou, who was accused of fraud. In apparent retaliation, China detained Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor on spying charges, jailing the pair for more than 1,000 days. All three were released under a deal reached in 2021.

More recently, Canada followed the United States in imposing a 100% tariff on Chinese electric vehicles and a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum from China. Beijing responded with tariffs on Canadian exports including canola, seafood and pork.

China has indicated it would remove some of the tariffs if Canada were to drop the 100% charge on EVs.

Canadian officials, in a briefing with reporters, said there will be progress on trade irritants with Beijing but not a definitive elimination of some tariffs during this visit.

Taiwan trip controversy

Ahead of Carney's China visit, two Liberal members of parliament announced they are ending a sponsored trip to Taiwan early to "avoid confusion" about Canada's foreign policy.

Helena Jaczek and Marie-France Lalonde said in a joint statement they were returning to Canada based on "advice from the government" but that it does not change Canada's stance on Taiwan. China views self-governed Taiwan as its sovereign territory and has said it would take it by force if needed.

"As this portion of the visit concludes, informed by advice from the government, we are returning home," their statement said. "It's important that we avoid confusion with Canada's foreign policy, given the overlap with the Prime Minister's engagement in Beijing, which was only confirmed last week."

The Globe and Mail reported three Conservative members of parliament remained in Taiwan on a trip sponsored by Taiwan's government.

Conservative MP Michael Chong criticized the Liberal decision to cut the trip short. "Ordering elected representatives home to avoid offending an authoritarian regime sends a clear message: convenience comes before principle," Chong said in a January 12 statement. "It's increasingly looking like Prime Minister Carney is taking the same approach as Trudeau on the communist government of China."

Trade and energy on the agenda

China is Canada's second-biggest trading partner after the United States, which until recently bought 76% of Canada's exports. China makes up only 4% of Canadian exports.

Blois mentioned energy, agri-food and climate change as potential areas of partnership with Beijing during the visit.

On energy, state-owned PetroChina is part of the joint venture running Canada's only liquified natural gas export terminal in British Columbia, LNG Canada. China is also the main buyer of Alberta oil transported by the Trans Mountain pipeline to the B.C. coast.

Beijing's steady supply of Venezuelan oil came under jeopardy last week after the United States captured Venezuela's leader Nicolás Maduro and took control of oil exports. Canadian officials noted that Washington's intervention in Venezuela is far-reaching.

"Obviously, if they have a desire to want to buy more for whatever reason they may choose, that's something that's good for Canadian workers. It's good for Canadian exports. It's good for the Canadian economy. So we're completely open to the conversation," Blois said regarding potential increased Chinese interest in Canadian oil.

Michael Kovrig, the former diplomat who was detained in China, has warned against expanding ties with the Chinese Communist Party to reap short-term economic benefits.

"How the CCP behaves toward people it governs, detains, or dislikes is a preview for how it's likely to deal with other citizens and countries it acquires power over," Kovrig said in a January 11 post on X.

Ottawa's push to deepen ties with Beijing comes at a time when the Trump administration is putting into practice its recently published National Security Strategy, which seeks to reduce China's influence in the Western Hemisphere.