Canadian Finance Minister and National Revenue François-Philippe Champagne will visit China between March 31 and April 4. He will meet with government and business leaders alike to build strategic partnerships and attract new investments as part of Canada's broader diversification imperative, Department of Finance Canada said in a statement on Monday local time.

A Chinese expert said the move is in line with continuing to advance the economic and trade consensus reached during Canadian prime minister's visit to China, adding that China-Canada economic and trade relations are expected to see notable progress, and that the visit will help promote economic and trade cooperation with China and facilitate economic diversification on both sides.

This visit builds on Prime Minister Mark Carney's successful visit to China in January, which marked a turning point in this important bilateral relationship, and follows productive engagements undertaken this past year to advance cooperation and revitalize the trade partnership, per the statement of Department of Finance Canada.

Carney said Monday that Champagne is going to further the "regular dialogue around a series of economic and financial issues" that were part of discussions when the prime minister visited, CBC News reported.

Zhou Mi, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times that China and Canada have clear complementarities in economic factors, industrial structure, market supply and demand, as well as technological cooperation. Taking the electric vehicle sector as an example, he said Canada's energy transition is expected to further accelerate, driving adjustments and optimization in charging infrastructure and related power generation capacity.

Zhou added that even amid current tensions, including the Middle East conflict, there remain opportunities for cooperation between the two sides in traditional energy sectors, as underlying market demand objectively exists.

The Carney government has sought to diversity Canadian trade partners amid uncertainty about the Canada-US trade relationship and US President Donald Trump's ongoing tariffs on Canadian steel, aluminum, lumber and autos. After Carney's trip in January, US President Donald Trump threatened a 100 per cent tariff on all Canadian goods entering the US if Canada "makes a deal with China", CBC News reported.

In a more divided and uncertain world, Canada's new government is building a stronger, more independent, and more resilient economy—working with determination to diversify our country's trade partnerships. As the world's second-largest economy and an industrial leader, China and Canada stand to benefit from closer economic and trade ties. This would add to the existing $118.9 billion in two-way merchandise trade between Canada and China - the second-largest single-country trading partner to Canada, Department of Finance Canada said.

Champagne's trip also comes as the Liberals face questions about one of their Member of Parliaments casting doubt on the use of so-called forced labour in China, Canadian media reported.

"Issues of supply chain integrity, including forced labour and child labour and ensuring that those standards are in place will be part of those discussions, I'm certain," Carney claimed on Monday, according to CBC.

Zhou said that some anti-China biases still exist within Canada, meaning that even as the government seeks to advance bilateral economic cooperation and diversify its economy, some domestic forces continue to view China through a prejudiced lens. He noted that such an approach undermines mutual trust, adding that economic and trade cooperation remains the mainstream of China-Canada relations.

Previously, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said in January that China hopes that, through Carney's visit, the two sides will step up dialogue and communication, enhance political mutual trust, expand practical cooperation, properly handle differences, address each other's concerns, consolidate the momentum in the turnaround of China-Canada relations, and deliver more benefit to the two peoples.