Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne meets with China’s Vice-Premier He Lifeng at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on Friday.Bill Curry/The Globe and Mail
Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said the Canada-China relationship is at a unique moment in time as he wrapped up a full day of meetings with top Chinese officials Friday in Beijing.
The day saw the two countries sign a joint statement to deepen financial-sector ties.
Mr. Champagne led a delegation of Canadian business leaders to China this week, which included Canada’s big banks, insurance and asset management CEOs and institutional investors such as Brookfield Asset Management, Mackenzie Investments and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.
In an interview with The Globe and Mail at the Canadian embassy in Beijing, Mr. Champagne said Canada is working to boost trade “with eyes wide open” and that he clearly raised the importance of labour standards during his meetings.
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“Canada has a very clear position when it comes to labour and forced labour and respect for international agreements,” he said. “I can assure you they really understood what I was talking about... I won’t go into the detail of our interaction. But my role as a Canadian official is to raise these issues and you get a lot of credit by being frank and being candid.”
Some of the leaders taking part told The Globe this week that with China’s population of nearly 1.5 billion becoming wealthier per capita, opportunities are growing for Canadian businesses in areas such as asset management and health care. Further, they expect the improved relationship between the two countries will lead to more Chinese investment in Canada.
Mr. Champagne and members of the Canadian delegation, including Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem, meet with Chinese officials at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse on Friday.Bill Curry/The Globe and Mail
Mr. Champagne and Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem began the day at the headquarters of China’s central bank. There they concluded the first Canada-China Financial Working Group in Beijing, a process that was announced when Prime Minister Mark Carney visited China in January.
In a joint statement signed by Mr. Champagne and Pan Gongsheng, Governor of the People’s Bank of China, the two countries said they recognize “the value of engagement between regulators and financial institutions to deepen business relations and promote a stable business environment.” They also pledged to hold frequent exchanges, including another meeting of the working group later this year.
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Mr. Champagne and Mr. Macklem then met in the afternoon with China’s Vice-Premier, He Lifeng, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.
During his opening remarks, the economist and Vice-Premier described the meeting as a key step in building on the plans set out in January when Mr. Carney met with President Xi Jinping.
“With that meeting, our bilateral relationship, after years of being at a low point, as well as our economic and trade ties, have been reinvigorated, and this is indeed something we are very happy to see,” he said. “We are very happy to see you here in Beijing. I believe as long as we follow the guidance set by our two leaders, our economic and trade ties will definitely make great strides forward.”
The leaders’ summit in January led to a new “strategic partnership” and the announcement that China would lower tariffs on several goods, including canola seed, lobster, crabs and peas.
Canada also set a target to increase exports to China by 50 per cent by 2030. The plan is a key part of Mr. Carney’s efforts to diversify international trade in response to higher tariffs from the United States, but closer ties with China risk irritating Washington at a moment when the future of North American trading rules are up for negotiation.
“This meeting that we’re having together today is very important, Vice-Premier,” Mr. Champagne said during his public opening comments. “It’s an important signal to markets that we are looking to strengthen our economic and financial ties.”
Friday’s joint statement did not include commitments related to resolving any specific trade irritants. While Canada and China agreed in January during Mr. Carney’s visit to ease some tariffs, some significant ones remained in sectors such as canola oil and pork, which China first imposed in March, 2025.
Mr. Champagne told The Globe that he raised the remaining trade issues, including in the context of Chinese interest in Canadian energy.
“The Chinese side, considering the energy situation in the world, I think they’re very interested by what Canada can offer on the energy side. And my overarching message was if we want to to achieve all of that, let’s make sure that we remove what’s already on the table, with respect to the trade irritants,” he said.
He also said the Prime Minister’s recent visit has created a unique moment of openness between the two countries, but that regular and direct meetings are key to delivering results over time.
“If you want trade, you need to show up,” he said.
After the bilateral meetings with the Vice-Premier, the two sides were joined by business executives for a Canada-China roundtable with financial institutions.
Chris White, president and CEO of the Beijing-based Canadian Meat Advocacy Office, said in an e-mail Friday he’s working full-time in China to have the remaining agricultural tariffs addressed.
“Having the Minister of Finance and senior officials on the ground this week provides the essential reinforcement needed to address remaining hurdles, most notably the 25 per cent tariff that continues to burden our pork packers, processors and producers,” said Mr. White, who was not part of Friday’s meetings.
Dong Yikun, a Canada specialist at the Beijing Foreign Studies University, said that as a Chinese observer, she views Mr. Champagne’s meetings this week as a continuation of the plans announced by Mr. Carney and Mr. Xi in January to renew the relationship between the two countries.
“If we look at the current moment, the relationship is in what we might call a bottoming-out and corrective rebound phase, similar to a stock market,” she said. “It still needs a lot of work on specifics: the concrete areas - cooperation in green energy, especially electric vehicles, agriculture and finance.”
With a report from Alexandra Li in Beijing