Colombia has signed an agreement to join China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), as announced by state media following a meeting between President Xi Jinping and Colombia's President Gustavo Petro. This move aligns Colombia with nearly two-thirds of Latin American nations in this infrastructure initiative aimed at increasing China's global influence through investment in significant projects. Both leaders emphasized the importance of cooperation, with Petro declaring a shift in Colombia's foreign relations towards equality and access to global markets. China reiterated its commitment to strengthening trade with Colombia, particularly in high-quality products.
Xi urged the countries to "take the opportunity of Colombia's formal joining the high-quality Belt and Road Initiative family to promote the quality upgrading of cooperation."
Petro wrote on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, that "the history of our foreign relations is changing." "From now on, Colombia will interact with the entire world on a footing of equality and freedom."
Xi used the China-CELAC Forum on Tuesday to cast China as a bastion of the multilateral order as US President Donald Trump continues to throw world markets into turmoil with trade policies that critics say are based more on whimsy than sound judgment.
China was "ready to import more Colombian products of high quality," indicating a strengthening economic relationship between the two nations.
Collection
[
|
...
]