OTTAWA, May 29 (Reuters) - China's Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi said on Friday that Canada could surpass its goal of increasing exports to China by 50% by 2030 during a meeting with Canada's Foreign Minister Anita Anand.
Wang said he thought Canada's exports to China could increase by 100%, building on momentum between the countries.
Wang is on a three-day visit to Canada, the first visit by a Chinese foreign minister in a decade and the latest step to improve ties.
Wang is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Mark Carney at 2 p.m. ET (1800 GMT), the Prime Minister's Office said.
Canada and China struck an initial trade deal in January to slash tariffs on electric vehicles and canola, when Carney became the first Canadian prime minister to visit China since 2017.
China is Canada's second-largest trading partner, and Carney has sought to reduce his country's overwhelming reliance on the United States after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Canada, a longtime ally.
"Canada is focused on growing our economy and diversifying our trading relationships," Anand said during the meeting.
"The Canada-China economic relationship is significant," she said.
The two ministers met after the Canadian warship HMCS Charlottetown completed a routine transit through the Taiwan Strait on May 23. China said on Friday it firmly opposes any attempt by any country to undermine its sovereignty and security "under the pretext of freedom of navigation."
(Reporting by Promit Mukherjee, Daphne Psaledakis and Frances Gao; Editing by Caroline Stauffer and Rod Nickel)
