Canada's Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault left for Beijing on Saturday to join talks on climate change and biodiversity, the first Canadian minister to go to China in four years.

Guilbeault will take part in three days of talks starting Monday at the annual assembly of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development, a climate advisory group to the Chinese government.

"Climate change and environmental issues know no borders," he said in a statement. "We cannot tackle these existential threats without engaging with a wide range of stakeholders and partners."

Guilbeault said two important issues he wants to bring up are methane emissions reductions and a global renewable energy target, which is being discussed ahead of the United Nations climate change conference later this year.

"There's a lot of low hanging fruits in terms of methane emission," he said. "This is a conversation we can have with the Chinese government and... maybe we could work on that together."

Guilbeault also said he had developed a relationship with his Chinese counterpart Huang Runqiu that allowed the two to "sit at a table despite our differences and talk about difficult subjects".

A month ago, US climate envoy John Kerry visited China for similar discussions. Other G7 countries, including France and Germany, have also sent climate representatives since Covid-19 travel restrictions were lifted.

The visit by Guilbeault came amid years of strained ties between Beijing and Ottawa, after the 2018 arrest by Canada, at US behest, of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Chinese telecoms giant Huawei, and two Canadians – businessman Michael Spavor and former diplomat Michael Kovrig – were arrested in China.

All three have since been freed, but tensions have persisted. Beijing complains that Ottawa has aligned its China policy too closely with Washington's aggressive approach, while Canadian authorities accuse China of interfering in its internal affairs. (Agencies)