Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Saturday called talks he held with President Xi Jinping on Friday a "turning point" in relations.

Canada and China are at the sharp end of Donald Trump's tariff onslaught, even after Xi and the US leader's deal on Thursday to dial back tensions.

China and Canada on Friday held their first formal talks between their leaders since 2017 on Friday.

"We have now unlocked a path forward to address current issues," Carney said in the South Korean city of Gyeongju, referring to China.

"Our overall discussion was constructive."

Carney said on Saturday he had accepted an invitation from Xi to visit "in the new year".

"I directed our ministers and officials to work together to find solutions to current challenges and to identify areas for cooperation and growth," he said.

Carney's meeting with Xi came after Trump said last Saturday he was hiking tariffs on Canadian goods by an additional 10 percent and terminated all trade talks.

This followed what Trump called a "fake" anti-tariff ad campaign that featured the late ex-president Ronald Reagan.

Carney said he had apologised to Trump for that ad.

Referring to Ontario premier Doug Ford, he said: "I told Ford I did not want to go forward with the ad.

"I did apologise to the president. The president was offended." (AFP)