Ottawa is working to find Canadian companies selling goods on Chinese – National platforms
The federal government is pushing to get Canadian companies on China’s biggest e-commerce platforms as the two countries deepen their relationship.
International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu told The Canadian Press in a recent interview that Chinese e-commerce titans Alibaba and JD.com are looking for more Canadian businesses on their platforms.
“I want to help do that,” he said. “There are other options we are considering there.”
Sidhu said the push is happening now “because the relationship is where it is.”
During a visit to Beijing earlier this year – the first such visit by a Canadian prime minister in eight years – Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada was entering a “new era of relations” with China. He said the stage was set for discussions on ways the two countries could become “strategic partners.”
Carney announced during the trip that China had agreed to lower agricultural tariffs in order for Canada to give Chinese electric car makers market access, and that Beijing had also agreed to finally relax its visa requirements for Canadian visitors.
“Since the relationship is growing, we are able to have these good discussions for the benefit of both our countries,” said Sidhu. “Ensuring that small and medium-sized businesses in Canada benefit from a market of 1.4 billion people is very important.”
Samantha Lafleur, spokeswoman for Global Affairs Canada, said in an email that China’s e-commerce has become the leading sales channel for consumer products and now serves more than a billion consumers.
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He said the Trade Commissioner Service in China is working with Canadian companies to identify the most effective channels for promoting their exports.
Lafleur said that since 2013, the government office has had dedicated e-commerce officials in China and has worked to help Canadian companies join the Chinese e-commerce market and build their products.
In 2016, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Alibaba founder Jack Ma announced the launch of a Canadian “platform” on the company’s Tmall platform. Trudeau said at the time that the digital space would connect Canadian companies with more than 400 million Chinese consumers.
Lafleur said the Trade Commissioner Service has also launched a program that provides product feedback for Canadian products from Alibaba and industry stakeholders to improve “market readiness and performance.”
He added that meetings with Alibaba and JD.com, including meetings involving the minister, are helping Canadian businesses prepare to “use these platforms to export high-quality Canadian goods to China.”
Lafleur said the Trade Commissioner Service in Beijing “worked closely with JD.com and its cross-border e-commerce division, JD Worldwide, to provide new opportunities for Canadian companies in the consumer products and agri-food sectors.”
Retail analyst Bruce Winder said acquiring Canadian companies on Chinese bases is “a good thing” for the right company with the right product.
“Especially because of so much uncertainty with our friend south of the border, about what will happen with jobs and prices, I think it’s natural that we try to sell our products at a different price to China to enter their market, especially as we open economic ties again,” said Winder.
“Diversification is an important thing. I think it’s a smart thing for Canada and Canadian industry to diversify and become a global supplier of goods and services as opposed to one core market.”
Winder said there is low-cost manufacturing in China and Canadian companies should try to sell mid- to high-priced branded products.
“Don’t try to compete with low-cost workers from China. You won’t succeed,” he said. “But there are different things and different categories that Canadian companies offer, whether it’s Lululemon or Canada Goose, and they’re already selling to China in many of these platforms.
“Just like you would in any other country, you have to analyze and make sure you understand what’s going on in the market and where and when your products are coming in.”
Danny Xu, Export Development Canada’s Indo-Pacific marketing partner, in a blog post on the Crown corporation’s website earlier this year that Chinese e-commerce platforms are providing new sales channels for Canadian agri-food exporters.
He said the top e-commerce platforms for agri-food products include Tmall Global, which is owned by Alibaba, and JD.com’s JD Worldwide. Both focus on e-border trade, he said, allowing international manufacturers and retailers to sell to Chinese consumers without a physical presence in China.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
