Canada’s top trade bureaucrat criticized Beijing’s trading and business practices in meetings with his Chinese counterpart last year, an internal Global Affairs document indicates, but a former ambassador says the Canadian approach made Ottawa “sound like beggars.”

The briefing note for Rob Stewart, deputy minister of international trade, cited what it called unfair Chinese bans on imports of Canadian beef and pet food, obstructive regulations for foreign businesses, and favouritism toward state-owned and other domestic companies.