Yesterday, China
and Ecuador agreed to lift bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic
partnership.The decision of was announced during Chinese President Xi Jinping's
state visit to Ecuador, the first of its kind since the two countries
established diplomatic relations 36 years ago.
In
his talks with Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, Xi, who arrived in Ecuador
Thursday afternoon, said Ecuador is an important country in Latin America. Despite a long distance between them, bilateral
ties between China and Ecuador have witnessed substantial development in recent
years.
The
two countries established a strategic partnership in Correa's second official
visit to Beijing in 2015, and Ecuador is now a major destination for Chinese
investment and financing in Latin America.
In
April this year, Ecuador was hit by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake, and China was
one of the first countries to supply humanitarian aid immediately after the
quake. Xi noted that since
2015, mutually beneficial cooperation between the two sides have seen rapid
development in a wide range of areas, with the scale of collaboration
continuing to increase.
Bilateral
ties have since been greatly enriched and have been picking up momentum towards
comprehensive development, he added.
The
Chinese president said China-Ecuador relations have now entered a key phase
where cooperation between the two countries is of greater importance to both
sides. China will continue to
support Ecuador in exploring a development path that suits its own conditions,
and will actively take part in Ecuador's post-earthquake reconstruction work,
he said.
China
is willing to reinforce practical cooperation with the Ecuadorian side in all
areas, comprehensively step up the integration of interests of both sides,
expand people-to-people exchanges, and open up brighter prospects for the
development of bilateral ties, Xi said.
He
went on to pledge support for Ecuador's presidency of the Group of 77 next
year, saying that China is willing to maintain close cooperation with the G77
in multilateral affairs.
China
is also willing to work with Ecuador to boost overall cooperation with Latin
America and push for greater development in China-Latin America relations, he
added.
Ecuador
is the first leg of President Xi's three-nation Latin American tour which will
also take him to Peru and Chile. This is his third visit to Latin America since
he took the presidency in March 2013.
He
will also attend the 24th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic
Leaders' Meeting while in Lima, capital of Peru.
Source: CCTV
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