Ottawa is making inroads towards its goal of doubling non-U.S. exports over the next decade, thanks in part to blossoming Canada–China trade, practical co-operation on the ground, and warming ties between Canadian provinces and Beijing.
This week, Canada is the “Guest Country of Honour” at the sixth annual China International Consumer Products Expo (CICPE), which takes place in Haikou, Hainan, from April 13–18. An estimated 3,400 brands from more than 60 countries and Chinese provinces are expected to attend CICPE, including 40 Canadian brands spanning consumer goods, agri-food, lifestyle products, cosmetics, and pet food. This year represents Canada’s largest-ever delegation to the expo.
Canadian international trade minister Maninder Sidhu was in Haikou on Monday and Tuesday for CICPE, continuing to Guangzhou on Wednesday to meet with “business leaders and investors in priority sectors,” according to Ottawa.
Canadian goods exports to China in February 2026 hit C$3.56 billion, the second-highest monthly amount ever (second only to November 2025, when exports reached C$3.62 billion).
Island experiments
CICPE comes just four months after Beijing decided to “experiment” and turn the island province of Hainan, the site of the expo, into a free-trade zone. China wants to see Hainan evolve into a global free-trade and consumption hub like Hong Kong and has even loosened rules around foreign investment and internet access to that end.
With its new “Strategic Partnership” with China, Canada has a front-row seat to the country’s “most ambitious free-trade experiment since Beijing established its first special economic zones in the 1980s,” according to The Financial Times.
Other countries are vying to tap into China’s market. Both Russia and NATO member Bulgaria are setting up pavilions at CICPE for the first time, while Switzerland, Czechia, and Ireland are sending official delegations. Back on the mainland, meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted Vietnamese leader To Lam and, separately, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez for his fourth visit in as many years — further evidence of China’s global reach.
The provincial role in Canada–China relations
Alberta’s agriculture minister, RJ Sigurdson, is also travelling to China for CICPE, the first official visit by an elected Alberta official to China since 2018. China is Alberta’s third-largest export market for agri-food; in 2025, Alberta’s exports to China totalled C$9.6 billion.
Sigurdson’s trip and the launch last week of the Alberta–China advisory committee are just the latest examples of how provinces, encouraged by Ottawa, are restarting engagement with China.
Other provinces are getting in on the action. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe travelled to China in January; British Columbia Premier David Eby is expected to lead a trade delegation to the country “later this year.” Last fall, Nova Scotia’s fisheries minister, Kent Smith — citing encouragement from the federal government — embarked on a 10-day trade mission to China.
