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Today's Canada-China Briefing

Diplomatic, trade, military, and political signals

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Today's Briefing:

20 signals tracked · Low · Stable bilateral relations with minimal friction

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Technology
TMTPost ·

Apple's AI clearance is a pass, but it might have obtained an old ticket.

The article | emphasizes that Next Apple's Apple Intelligence (Apple AI) finally ushered in the whistle of admission....

The article | emphasizes that Next Apple's Apple Intelligence (Apple AI) finally ushered in the whistle of admission. On July 15, the network information department announced a new batch of mobile phone side generative artificial intelligence service filing information, a total of seven products completed the filing, namely, Apple Intelligence, Huawei Xiaoyi AI, OPPO AndesGPT, vivo blue heart side big model, Xiaomi Pengpai AI, Samsung Galaxy AI and Nubian bean bag mobile phone big model. Ali then confirmed that Qianqian will participate in the Chinese version of Apple Intelligence, providing text understanding, image understanding, content generation and other capabilities. However, Qianqian is not the only underlying model for all of Apple's AI capabilities. According to people familiar with the matter, Apple's cooperation with Baidu focuses on AI search capabilities, which will also be used to upgrade the Chinese version of Siri voice assistant. In other words, the current division of labor is roughly: generative AI, Baidu search, and Siri. It is worth noting that Baidu has been Apple's Siri search service provider in mainland China for many years. However, filing solves the compliance qualification problem, which does not mean that the product is ready. It is reported that some of Apple Intelligence's image recognition functions still rely on Google's reverse image search, and Google-related services cannot be used normally in mainland China. This technical dependence needs to be further replaced with a local solution. So Apple still has a specific line of engineering to do....

Ottawa's View

This technology development is part of China's self-reliance drive. While not directly affecting Canada, it reflects the shifting competitive landscape in advanced technology sectors.

Beijing's View

Text | Emphasizing Next, Apple's Apple Intelligence (Apple AI) Finally Gets the Green Light to Enter the Market

Political
Diplomatic
Political High
State Council · July 16, 2026

"Focusing on strengthening ourselves and always remaining vibrant and full of vitality" — A Series Comment on In-depth Learning and Implementation of General Secretary Xi Jinping's Important Speech at the Conference Celebrating the 105th Anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Party of China, Part XI

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, July 15 Title: "Focus on strengthening oneself, always full of vitality" - in-depth study...

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, July 15 Title: "Focus on strengthening oneself, always full of vitality" - in-depth study and implementation of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech series at the celebration of the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China Ding Xiaoxi, Xinhua News Agency reporter: "Our Party is soberly aware that iron must be hard on itself, good at reviewing itself with the development of the times, alerting itself with a strong sense of worry, improving itself with a spirit of self revolution, attaching great importance to self-construction, resolutely eliminating all factors that damage the Party's advancedness and purity, and eliminating all viruses that erode the Party's healthy flesh, which is more powerful in revolutionary forging. At the celebration of the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping profoundly condensed and summarized the excellent characteristics of the Communist Party of China, revealing the key password for why the Communist Party of China can be, one of which is" focusing on strengthening oneself, always full of vitality ". The one who can defeat the enemy, the one who defeats himself first. Promoting party building as a great project, and always adhering to the principle and policy that the party should be in charge of the party and strictly govern the party, is a major initiative of our party, and a great magic weapon for the establishment of the party and the strengthening of the party." Looking at the world, no political party can take its own construction so seriously as the Communist Party of China, and promote its own revolution in a scientific and systematic manner with such a high degree of consciousness. This is a significant advantage of our party and a way to lead the times to victory. General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed. Focusing on strengthening oneself profoundly demonstrates the noble pursuit of the Centennial Party of not forgetting its original intention and remembering its mission -...

Ottawa's View

This is an internal Chinese governance matter with no direct implications for Canada. It provides context on China's political and institutional direction.

Beijing's View

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, July 15 Title: "Focus on strengthening oneself, always full of vitality" - In-depth study and implementation of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech at the celebration of the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China Ding Xiaoxi, reporter of Xinhua News Agency, "Our Party is soberly aware that iron must be hard on itself, good at reviewing itself with the requirements of the times, alerting itself with a strong sense of worry, improving itself with a spirit of self revolution, attaching great importance to self-construction, resolutely eliminating all factors that damage the Party's advancedness and purity, and eliminating all viruses that erode the Party's healthy flesh, and becoming more powerful in revolutionary forging

Legal
市监总局 · July 16, 2026

A technical trade measures workshop of the national market supervision and administration system was held in Wuhan.

On July 15, a technical trade measures work conference of the national market supervision system was held in Wuhan,...

On July 15, a technical trade measures work conference of the national market supervision system was held in Wuhan, Hubei Province. Guided by Xi Jinping's Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the meeting thoroughly implemented the spirit of the 20th National Congress and the successive plenary sessions of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and earnestly followed the requirements of the national market supervision work conference. The meeting summarized achievements, analyzed current situations, and deployed key tasks. Zhang Siwei, a member of the Standing Committee of the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) and deputy director-general as well as director of the National Certification and Accreditation Administration (CNCA), attended the meeting and delivered a speech. Hu Yabao, vice governor of the Hubei Provincial People's Government, also attended and delivered an opening address. The conference pointed out that last year, the market supervision system deeply implemented General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions and comments, united in collaboration and fulfilled their duties, achieving practical results in improving work systems, enhancing corporate response capabilities, and serving industrial development. The conference emphasized that at all levels of the market supervision departments, they should thoroughly implement the decisions and plans of the central authorities, firmly establish and practice the correct concept of achievements. They should raise political awareness, enhance a sense of the overall situation, deeply recognize the important role of technical trade measures work in serving high-level opening-up and promoting the construction of a quality power. They need to fully leverage the advantages of market supervision functions by taking more concrete actions to continuously improve corporate response capabilities, making greater breakthroughs in enhancing the compliance level of industrial chains, and actively shaping international economic and trade rules and standards.

Ottawa's View

This is an internal Chinese governance matter with no direct implications for Canada. It provides context on China's political and institutional direction.

Beijing's View

As the country's capital and science and technology innovation center, Beijing plays an important role in the work of technical trade measures. According to the contents of the meeting, the Beijing Municipal Market Supervision Department actively summarized its experience, strengthened its response strategies, and planned to contribute to improving the compliance level of the industrial chain and shaping international economic and trade rules, reflecting its determination to promote high-level opening up and high-quality development.

Canada-China Relations
Low
Stable bilateral relations with minimal friction
Canada-China bilateral trade (May 2026)
$11.9B
Imports from China: $7.8B Exports to China: $4.1B
“The 11th China-Canada International Film Festival Celebrates Storytelling”
— CGTN