Xi and Lasso agree to negotiate a China-Ecuador free trade agreement

China Y Ecuador agreed to negotiate a bilateral free trade agreement after the meeting held today in Beijing between the presidents of both countries, Xi Jinping and Guillermo Lasso.

The latter, on his official Twitter account, expressed his hope that the agreement will be finalized “by the end of 2022”, and referred to it as “very important to open more markets to Ecuadorian products”.

Lasso held this meeting with Xi in Beijing, a city where he arrived on Thursday to attend the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics.

According to a statement published after the meeting by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the leader of the Asian country praised the “health and stability” with which bilateral diplomatic relations have developed in the last 40 years, and asked to “take advantage” of the opening of the aforementioned free trade agreement negotiations as an “opportunity” for Beijing and Quito to “deepen their cooperation.”

“Both countries firmly support each other’s main interests and are good friends, with mutual trust,” said Xi, who also highlighted the “against the trend” evolution of trade between China and Ecuador.

The Chinese president highlighted various fields in which cooperation has been “fruitful”, such as infrastructure construction, energy, minerals or communications, while his Ecuadorian counterpart expressed the hope of reinforcing it in others such as trade or investment. .

Lasso, according to the statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, assured that the Asian giant is the “most important cooperation partner” of Ecuador, and that this relationship is “crucial for the economic and social development” of the South American country.

Looking to the future of bilateral ties, Xi called for “strengthening strategic communication”, “maintaining mutual support on issues that affect the main interests of both” or “promoting high-quality cooperation when building” the initiative. Chinese infrastructure known as New Silk Roads, of which Ecuador has been a part since 2018.

“China is willing to cooperate closely with Ecuador in international affairs (…). Ecuador is welcome to share China’s development opportunities and actively support global development initiatives,” he added.

Likewise, Xi renewed his offer of anti-covid assistance to Ecuador and to “strengthen” collaboration on vaccines.

In this regard, Lasso, quoted by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, assured that Ecuador “will never forget” Chinese support during the worst moments of the pandemic.

On the other hand, the president of the Asian nation asked that Ecuador continue to offer a “fair and convenient business environment” for Chinese companies operating in the Latin American country.

debt renegotiation

Although the Foreign Ministry statement indicates that Lasso assured that the assistance offered by China to countries like Ecuador “has never been linked to political conditions”, it does not mention whether the meeting dealt with one of the declared objectives of the Ecuadorian president for his visit. , that of debt renegotiation.

Ecuador, according to its president, has a debt of some 4,600 million dollars with China, of which 400 is “concessional debt” at very low interest and very long term, and the rest is what it would try to renegotiate during its meetings with the Chinese leaders.

And it is that before his meeting with Xi, Lasso held a meeting with Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang, who, according to the official Xinhua news agency, called for “accelerating negotiations” on the free trade agreement.

With this, Li continued, a renewed inertia would be given to cooperation between Beijing and Quito, and it would contribute to “guaranteeing the stability of industrial and supply chains at a global level.”

The dispatch published by Xinhua after that meeting also does not make explicit mention of the renegotiation of the debt, but it does mention that Lasso expressed Ecuador’s willingness to begin negotiations for the aforementioned free trade agreement, “to safeguard multilateralism jointly, consolidate further bilateral relations and make positive contributions to ensure world peace.”

Lasso did indicate, in another message posted on Twitter, that he spoke with Li about debt renegotiation and “new forms of economic cooperation to improve financing conditions, always for the benefit of Ecuadorians.”

“We appreciate the opening in this productive meeting for both countries,” he added.

According to Lasso, the meeting with Li focused on “trade, investment and the programs planned for the next two years”, and also on discussing how to “strengthen economic cooperation, health care and financial sustainability”.