China, MB ‘complementary in a lot of areas’

As Canada and China look to ease tariff-fuelled trade tensions, Wang Di has been making rounds in Manitoba and planting seeds for future collaboration.

Tourism, infrastructure and artificial intelligence are among the sectors China’s ambassador to Canada is eyeing.

He sat down for an exclusive interview with the Free Press in between meetings with Premier Wab Kinew and University of Manitoba leadership on Wednesday.

“In this world full of turbulence and changes and challenges, the more co-operation between China and Canada — and a better relationship between our two countries — will be good for both sides,” Wang said through a translator inside the Hampton Inn in Winnipeg.

“China and Manitoba are complementary in a lot of areas.”

Wang’s visit comes less than two weeks after Prime Minister Mark Carney declared a turning point in Canada’s relationship with China. Carney met with Chinese President Xi Jinping at an economic leaders’ meeting last month; the two committed to grow their countries’ bilateral relationship.

Wang visited Winnipeg this week to advance the goal. On the ambassador’s list: talk tariffs with Kinew.

Chinese and Canadian departments are working “very fast” to find solutions, Wang said. Currently, Manitoba farmers are being hammered by Chinese tariffs on canola and pork.

The levies — ranging from 25 per cent on pork exports to 100 per cent on canola oil, meal and peas — are viewed as a response to 100 per cent tariffs Canada placed on Chinese electric vehicle imports last year.

“We believe that as long as both sides uphold the spirit of mutual understanding and mutual accommodation … we will be able to find a solution,” Wang said, adding he’s in “extensive consensus” with Kinew.

The Manitoba premier penned a letter to Carney last month, calling for Ottawa to resolve its trade dispute with Beijing.

Thousands of Manitobans’ livelihoods have been threatened by the Chinese tariffs, Kinew noted: “Every day these tariffs remain in place, the harm to Prairie producers deepens.”

Wang and Kinew also discussed sectors China and Manitoba could collaborate on. The premier was not made available for comment by print deadline Wednesday.

“We’ll continue to build a relationship together through the near-term challenges and the future opportunities,” Kinew said in a social media post about meeting Wang.

The Chinese ambassador highlighted tourism, education, artificial intelligence, technology and infrastructure as collaboration areas.

He also met with leadership at Arctic Gateway Group, which owns the Port of Churchill and the Hudson Bay Railway. China could assist in port construction and railway development, Wang said, adding China has a hand in 129 ports globally.

The ambassador said he met with Manitoba First Nations grand chiefs; they brought up a need for all-weather roads China could play a role in constructing.

“As long as the Canadian side — including the provincial government of Manitoba — are ready to work together with China, China will encourage Chinese companies to co-operate,” Wang said.

Meantime, settling tariff concerns should happen simultaneously with exploring new areas of partnership, he added.

Mining is another sector China is interested in, Wang said.

Canada has restricted Chinese investment in the past. Two years ago, Canada made three Chinese companies sell their stakes in Canadian mineral firms, citing national security concerns.

Chinese company Sinomine Resource Group Co., Ltd. still owns a lithium-producing mine near the Whiteshell Provincial Park (called the Tanco mine).

Wang planned to meet University of Manitoba leadership on Wednesday to discuss “educational co-operation.”

Canada is one of Chinese students’ top post-secondary destinations, he said. However, Canada has slashed the number of immigrant pupils it will accept. The ambassador said China hopes for the removal of such education-related obstacles.

The province’s agriculture sector, too, was keeping en eye on Wednesday’s meetings.

“We welcome the Chinese ambassador and we welcome the dialogue,” said Cam Dahl, Manitoba Pork general manager, adding local producers have swallowed millions of dollars to maintain prices for Chinese customers.

China was Manitoba’s second-largest destination for agri-food exports last year. It bought 15 per cent of the goods, or $1.4 billion worth. Canola seeds accounted for $649 million — it was the biggest export — and pork elicited $153 million.

Manitoba is second to Quebec as the nation’s top pork exporter to China. Producers are pausing investments for now — they’re unsure what the market will look like in the next six months, Dahl said.

Uncertainty has wracked canola farmers, too, said Warren Ellis, chair of the Manitoba Canola Growers, and one of roughly 7,500 canola producers in the province.

Many are storing their crops in grain bins because of a demand deficit, Ellis said.

The season has likely ended with an average amount of canola production, around three million metric tonnes. Canola prices haven’t tanked — it’s still a desirable product with buyers in other countries, Ellis said — but farmers are bracing for financial losses.

“I do believe that this is going to get resolved,” Ellis said. “(But) we need some compensation for the losses. We need stability as well.”

Ottawa has increased the interest-free limit in its loan guarantee program, called the Advance Payments Program, for canola farmers this year and next. However, producers still need to pay the money back, Ellis said.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com