Chinese ambassador pitches new EVs as first step to new Canadian jobs, cheaper cars

OTTAWA — As critics attack Ottawa’s agreement last week to start allowing a small number of Chinese electric vehicles into Canada, China’s envoy to Ottawa says Beijing wants to partner with Canadian autoworkers to create good jobs and build cheaper cars.

“Only win-win co-operation can last,” Chinese Ambassador to Canada Wang Di told The Canadian Press on Wednesday.

“All these projects will be beneficial to the development of the Canadian EV industry, and will be helpful for job growth in Canada, and will help Canadian consumers to be able to buy higher quality and more affordable cars,” Wang said through his interpreter.

Prime Minister Mark Carney and Chinese President Xi Jinping signed an agreement last week that will allow Chinese electric vehicles into the country at a 6.1 per cent tariff rate.

The deal includes an annual import quota of up to 49,000 Chinese EVs and requires that half of them have an import price of under $35,000 by 2030.

Canada joined the U.S. in putting a 100 per cent tariff on Chinese electric vehicles in 2024. China has been accused of using unfair subsidies to build up its EV sector and of dumping vehicles in the North American market.

The levy prompted China to slap tariffs on Canadian agricultural imports. In return for allowing Chinese EVs into the Canadian market, China has agreed to ease its agricultural tariffs.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has said that the “lopsided deal” risks flooding the market with cheap EVs with no guarantee of Chinese investment — and with the threat of limiting Canadian automakers’ access to the critical U.S. market.

Unifor union president Lana Payne called the deal a “self-inflicted wound” and warned that China will quickly seize market share, as it has done in other markets.

But Wang suggested Ontario autoworkers don’t need to worry, since Ottawa and Beijing want to see investments that build up Canada’s manufacturing sector.

“The character of China-Canada practical co-operation is complementarity and mutual benefit,” he said.

“China encourages and supports Chinese companies to make investments and start up companies here in Canada, on the basis of the market rules. At the same time, we hope that the Canadian side will provide a fair, non-discriminatory and predictable business environment for the Chinese companies that come here.”

A senior government source who briefed reporters on background during Carney’s trip said Ottawa does not see the deal as an economic threat since it plays into a larger strategy of eventually building Chinese EVs in Canada.

Wang said that’s what Beijing wants to see — if companies take up those opportunities.

“If Chinese companies will come to Canada to work with Canadian partners for investment, for opening factories or for joint ventures, all of these projects will be win-win,” he said.

“Unlike some other countries, China will not only take into consideration of its selfish interest. We don’t want ‘only we win and others lose.'”

But analysts who are critical of China’s industrial policy warn that its subsidies have created a glut of cheap cars that could artificially drive down prices and contribute to further deindustrialization.

Margaret McCuaig-Johnston of the China Strategic Risks Institute has cited these concerns — along with the threat of surveillance stemming from software in Chinese EVs that links to mobile networks and often the driver’s personal phone.

In an online panel held Thursday by the Institute for Peace and Diplomacy, Wenran Jiang, head of the Canada-China Energy and Environment Forum, noted that Canadian auto parts giant Magna International — headquartered in Aurora, Ont. — has a deal with a Chinese automaker to build cars in Austria, blending Chinese know-how with local labour.

“If they can do that, we can do it certainly here in Ontario,” he said, arguing that’s how to avoid regional splits over engagement with China.

“We could do probably better if we leverage our regional advantages and work together as a team.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 23, 2026.

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press