Uruguay eyes more economic ties with China

Uruguayan Foreign Minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa speaks at the launch ceremony for Uruguay Week in Beijing, August 20, 2018. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Uruguay, the first Uruguay Week was launched in Beijing on Monday.

Activities between Aug 20 to 27 are jointly organized by Uruguay XXI, an investment, export and country brand promotion agency, and the Uruguay Embassy in China, and will be held in Beijing, Chongqing and Guangzhou in South China's Guangdong province.

Uruguay Week seeks to further promote investment and cooperation between Chinese and Uruguayan enterprises in key areas, such as infrastructure construction, agricultural trade and tourism, and to promote more professional and in-depth bilateral economic exchanges.

China is Uruguay's largest trading partner. In the first half of this year, trade volume between the two countries stood at 13.86 billion yuan, up 15.4 percent year-on-year, according to data from the General Administration of Customs.

Major Uruguay export commodities to China include beef, dairy products, fish, wood, timber products, soybeans, wool , textiles and semi-precious stones.

Uruguayan Foreign Minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa said China is of strategic importance to Uruguay's economic and trade development and Uruguay's foreign policy towards China has remained unchanged in the past 30 years.

Bilateral relations have sustained healthy development, with continuous growth of trade in services, expanding agricultural scientific research cooperation, increasing investment projects in the infrastructure, service and industrial sectors, and more exchanges of tourists, students and entrepreneurs between the two countries, Nin Novoa said.

Uruguay is considered to be an important gateway to Latin America for the Belt and Road Initiative, and is also the core of logistics in Latin America, said Antonio Carámbula Sagasti, executive director of Uruguay XXI.

"We are an investment-worthy and trustworthy country", Carámbula Sagasti added.

During Nin Novoa's visit to China, the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on the Belt and Road Initiative and a cooperation agreement on service trade.