ISTANBUL

The foreign ministers of Canada and Sweden, as well as the French president's diplomatic adviser, will each pay official two-day visits to China this week, a statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

The visits by Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand and Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard, planned for Thursday and Friday, come at the invitation of their Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, the ministry said.

It added that French President Emmanuel Macron's diplomatic adviser Emmanuel Bonne will visit Beijing from Wednesday to Thursday as part of a new round of the China-France strategic dialogue. The two countries established diplomatic ties in 1964, and bilateral trade has surged to around $79 billion.

Beijing’s hosting of officials from Western nations comes amid the ongoing tariff war initiated by the US. Almost all countries, including China and Canada, are negotiating individual trade deals with the Donald Trump administration.

Canada and China have also experienced tensions in their bilateral relations, which were first established in 1970.

The two countries have imposed tit-for-tat levies on some of their exports, including agricultural products and electric vehicles, even as bilateral trade surged to over $67 billion last year.

In 2018, China and Canada saw their ties significantly spiral downwards after the North American nation arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on behalf of the US over bank fraud charges.

Later, Beijing detained Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor over allegations of espionage.

All parties have since been released, and relations between China and Canada have gradually improved.

The visit by Stenergard to Beijing comes as China and Sweden mark 75 years of diplomatic ties.

In May 1950, Sweden became the first Western country to formally recognize China and establish diplomatic relations.

Over the years, their bilateral trade has surged to over $17 billion.