Canada's Carney plans to talk trade, relations during China visit

Montreal: Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday will begin a state visit to China, the first in eight years for a Canadian leader, with aims to talk t...

Montreal: Prime Minister Mark Carney on Tuesday will begin a state visit to China, the first in eight years for a Canadian leader, with aims to talk trade and rebuild ties after years of diplomatic tensions.

Chinese President Xi Jinping invited Carney last October during a meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, which Carney described as a "turning point" in the two nations' strained relationship.

The January 13-17 trip seeks to "strengthen cooperation in the areas of trade, energy, agriculture and international security," a Carney spokeswoman told AFP.

"It's a huge step forward," said Gordon Houlden, a former Canadian diplomat and director of the University of Alberta's China Institute.

Houlden told AFP that if "some of the commercial problems that are affecting our exports had a political origin, then solving the political origin may, or should, have some positive effect on the trade."