President Xi Jinping and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have had an exchange about the leaking of details of their meeting held on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Indonesia.

The Foreign Ministry on Thursday described the exchange as a "normal" conversation between the two leaders and "should not be interpreted as Xi Jinping criticising or blaming anyone".

Xi and Trudeau on Wednesday had a brief encounter at an event in Indonesia that news outlets were able to record. A television camera was behind a Chinese interpreter in clear view as the two spoke.

“Everything we discussed has been leaked to the paper; that’s not appropriate,” Xi told Trudeau through the interpreter.

“And that’s not... the way the conversation was conducted, if there is sincerity on your part,” Xi said, at which point Trudeau interrupted and stepped towards Xi.

“In Canada, we believe in free and open and frank dialogue and that is what we will continue to have," Trudeau said. "We will continue to look to work constructively together, but there will be things we will disagree on.”

“Let’s create the conditions first,” Xi responded through the interpreter.

The two shook hands after the brief encounter.

Asked later at a news conference about the encounter, Trudeau said “not every conversation is always going to be easy, but it’s extremely important that we continue to stand up for the things that are important for Canadians.”

Trudeau had on Tuesday in a closed-door meeting raised with Xi what he called Chinese "interference" with Canadian citizens after Ottawa in recent weeks accused Beijing of meddling with its democratic and judicial systems.

Beijing denies those claims.

"The reasons for the difficulties in China-Canada relations in recent years are very clear," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said in Thursday's regular press briefing.

"The fault does not lie with the Chinese side," she said. (Agencies)
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Last updated: 2022-11-17 HKT 16:53