Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao (right) meets Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng in Lima, Peru, on Saturday. Photo: Ministry of Commerce website

China has been Canada's second-largest trade partner for many years, and economic and trade cooperation has been a major driver of bilateral relations, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao said on Saturday, while calling for joint efforts to manage and resolve trade disputes, which will serve the fundamental interests of both countries.

Wang made the remarks during a meeting with Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng in Lima, the capital of Peru on Saturday. The two officials conducted pragmatic and candid discussions on bilateral trade relations and other issues related to each other's concerns, according to a statement on the website of China's Ministry of Commerce.

This marks one of the few talks between the two countries' senior trade officials since Canada implemented a suite of tariffs on Chinese imports in October, including a 100 percent additional tariff on Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs) and a 25 percent additional tariff on steel and aluminum.

Wang noted that Canada's discriminatory restrictions imposed on Chinese goods, including EVs, steel and aluminum as well as increasingly strict scrutiny of Chinese investments there, have caused severe challenges to China-Canada economic and trade relations.

The minister urged Canada to take concrete actions to reasonably define the boundaries of "national security" and build a sound environment for China-Canada economic and trade relations.

China applauds the Canadian side's reiteration of support for multilateral trade systems and upholding free trade principles and other WTO rules. China hopes that Canada will work with all parties to oppose unilateralism and trade protectionism, Wang said.

Ng said that Canada attaches importance to economic and trade relations with China, and Canada is willing to maintain open communication channels with China at different levels and resolve issues related to each other's concerns in a constructive way.

Canada supports China to host the APEC in 2026, and Canada is willing to work with China and other parties to boost the success of APEC in 2026, Ng said.

"Amid rising geopolitical tensions worldwide, coupled with economic disruptions caused by certain Western countries, the meeting between Chinese and Canadian trade officials is timely, which underscores the significance of economic and trade cooperation for China-Canada relations," Liu Dan, a research fellow at the Center for Regional Country Studies at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, told the Global Times on Sunday.

"On the one hand, the Canadian side may seek to make up for the severe harm to China-Canada economic and trade relations caused by its aggressive protectionist behaviors such as steep tariffs on Chinese EVs and crackdowns on Chinese firms. On the other hand, as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is aiming for the upcoming Canadian federal election, the Trudeau government hopes to do a good job in foreign trade," Liu said.

Canada has been attempting to diversify its foreign trade in recent years, with China as an important partner, Liu said, urging Canada to increase autonomy in its China policy and not to blindly follow the US.

In late October, the Canadian Transportation Agency announced the removal of restrictions on Chinese mainland airlines. Following Canada's move, Chinese mainland and Canadian airlines started to intensively increase and resume direct flights between the two countries, with direct flights between Beijing and Canada's Toronto resuming on November 10.