Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to Canada, the first visit by a Chinese foreign minister to the country in 10 years, contributes to advancing bilateral cooperation in various fields, a Canadian scholar said on Friday.
Wang met with Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, Foreign Minister Anita Anand, and other senior officials in Ottawa on Friday. The two sides discussed a range of issues, including consular matters, trade, and investment.
In her opening remarks of the bilateral meeting, Anand said Canada expects to grow exports to China by 50 percent by 2030.
Behind closed doors, the ministers discussed ongoing plans to move forward with the seven areas of cooperation in the updated Canada-China Strategic Partnership.
Gregory Chin, a professor of political economy at York University, expressed his confidence in China-Canada energy cooperation.
"Canada is a major energy supplier, and I think it would be important for the two countries and the two governments to take concrete steps forward as far as energy agreements, where Canada can be a reliable supplier of energy, key energy to China," said Chin.
During his visit, Wang also met with former Canadian Prime Minster Jean Chretien, saying that Chretien initiated the "golden decade" of China-Canada relations during his tenure as prime minister.
Highlighting China's rapid development, Chretien said that the economies of Canada and China are highly complementary, and expressed his willingness to make contributions to friendly exchanges between the two nations.
"As Canadian prime minister more than two decades ago, Prime Minister Chretien made relations with China a top priority. Of course, the No. 1 priority for any Canadian prime minister is managing relations with the United States properly. But Prime Minister Chretien was very unique in that he made relations with China the No. 2, a high No. 2 priority for the government of Canada," said Chin.
Scholar expects closer cooperation between China, Canada
A wide range of ecological and environmental protection activities were held in China to mark the World Environment Day on Friday, aimed at encouraging public participation in green transition across the country to build a beautiful China.
Jointly organized by Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao for the first time, the National Event on the Environment Day 2026 -- the national main event, released the 2025 China Ecological Environment Status Bulletin, outlining the leapfrog improvement in China's ecological environment quality over the past decade.
Meanwhile, various regions across China rolled out a rich variety of themed activities to engage wide public involvement in environmental protection.
In Beijing, the Ecological Culture Week kicked off, featuring interactive activities such as micro-sitcom creation and AI animation science popularization to spread ecological culture and green development concepts.
In the Xiong'an New Area, north China's Hebei Province, students and their parents collaborated to paint a 100-meter-long ecological scroll. Their works, centered on themes including lucid waters and lush mountains, water conservation, and garbage classification, helped deepen participants' ecological awareness.
Luzhou City in southwest China's Sichuan Province brought environmental education to real-world settings, holding small environmental protection classes at local sewage treatment plants and environmental protection image museums. Participants gained a firsthand appreciation of the hard work behind ecological governance through guided tours and film screenings.
Beyond individual cities, cross-regional collaboration also took center stage. Hangzhou in east China's Zhejiang Province and Huangshan in east China's Anhui Province jointly launched an ecological protection action, releasing over 10,000 black amur bream fry into the Qiandao Lake to help improve water quality.
Simultaneously, the two provinces initiated joint cross-provincial fishery law enforcement, further solidifying practical cooperation in trans-regional ecological management.
China celebrates the World Environment Day on June 5 every year, coinciding with the United Nations' global observance to promote global environmental awareness and action.
Diverse activities held across China to mark Environment Day
Diverse activities held across China to mark Environment Day
