BEIJING, July 18, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly will visit China from Thursday to Saturday, Beijing's foreign ministry said, as the countries seek to mend frayed ties.

Joly is visiting at the invitation of her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, the ministry said in a statement.

The top Canadian diplomat has not travelled to China since taking over as foreign minister in 2021, but she did meet with Wang in February on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

Relations between Beijing and Ottawa have been tense in recent years.

The arrest of a senior Chinese telecom executive on a US warrant in Vancouver in December 2018 and Beijing's retaliatory detention of two Canadians on espionage charges plunged relations into a deep freeze.

More recently, ties have been strained by allegations of Chinese interference in Canadian elections in 2019 and 2021. A Canadian public inquiry is currently assessing those claims, which Beijing denies.

Last year, Joly expelled a Chinese diplomat accused of seeking to intimidate a Canadian opposition lawmaker who has been a vocal critic of the ruling Communist Party.