China’s Xi meets Uruguay’s president and upgrades ties. During a meeting in Beijing on Wednesday, State Media Xinhua said that Chinese President Xi Jinping and his counterpart, Luis Lacalle Pou of Uruguay, decided to improve relations and build ties “into a model of solidarity and cooperation.”
“I am happy to announce with you… the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership,” Xi said after meeting Lacalle Pou in the Great Hall of the People. “At present, deepening bilateral ties is increasingly becoming the consensus in our two countries.”
With this statement, Uruguay’s relations with China are now on par with those of the other two Mercosur members, Argentina and Brazil.
China has been pursuing deeper connections with South America’s developing markets for a long time, mostly to get grains and petroleum as raw materials for its economy. However, the second-biggest economy in the world is also a significant investor and has granted four states tariff-free access to its enormous consumer market.
Lacalle Pou first proposed a free trade agreement with China in 2021 to increase China’s exports of industrial goods, raw materials, and technology and provide its exporters with the same opportunities as Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Peru. However, other Mercosur bloc members are opposed, preferring to settle on an FTA with Europe.
