Beijing and Ottawa are in talks on how to increase air travel between China and Canada, following a Chinese-American agreement in this area at the end of June.

The Canadian Ministry of Transport stated that the number of weekly flights between the two countries has drastically decreased, from over 100 flights per week in the summer of 2019 to only 10 flights per week in the current season.

This significant decline is due to the strict measures imposed by China during the COVID-19 pandemic before they were eased earlier this year.

These measures included restrictions on foreign flights, quarantine periods, and repeated testing for the virus that visitors were subjected to.

Aviation analyst Helen Becker said that these measures forced airlines to cut their flights to China and stop in countries like South Korea to rotate crews.

No direct flights between China and Canada have been resumed since then.

At the same time, China has kept Canada out of an agreement that facilitates groups of Chinese tourists traveling abroad, citing diplomatic tensions over issues such as foreign interference.

However, the two countries say they are in talks to increase the number of flights between them, with Canada indicating it may seek an agreement similar to the one recently reached between the United States and China.

It is noted that Canadian authorities are investigating allegations of foreign interference in the last two federal election campaigns, in 2019 and 2021, and that the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has summoned the Chinese ambassador several times after receiving allegations about the existence of secret Chinese police stations in Canada targeting the Chinese diaspora.