Chinese and Uruguayan Presidents Xi Jinping and Luis Lacalle Pou met together in Beijing on Wednesday to strengthen mutual relations. After the meeting, the Chinese President stated that the strategic partnership between China and Uruguay has deepened. Uruguay’s presidential office added that the heads of state agreed to continue efforts to accelerate the building of a free trade association between the two countries. Notably, Uruguay had previously failed to secure a free trade deal with the United States.
Currently, China is Uruguay’s largest trading partner. Economic and trade cooperation between China and Uruguay has developed rapidly, with bilateral trade volume reaching 7.44 billion U.S. dollars in 2022, sixty times that of the time when the two countries established diplomatic ties. Lacalle Pou also told the media that he wanted to further deepen “multidimensional relations” and mentioned that his country had upgraded its diplomatic representation in China. Uruguay is also taking steps to join the New Development Bank (NDB), an institution based in Shanghai founded by the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa). Lacalle Pou also invited Xi Jinping to visit Uruguay next year.
Along with Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay, Uruguay is part of the South American trade bloc Mercosur. Montevideo’s desire to negotiate a trade deal with China on its own has been opposed by other bloc members in the past, nearly leading to its collapse.
Strong ties with China were also maintained by Brazil under the leadership of former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. However, newly elected Argentine President Javier Milei has threatened to cut ties with China, while Paraguay maintains diplomatic ties with Taiwan. With regard to these developments, President Xi declared that he is determined to make Sino-Uruguayan relations “a model of solidarity and cooperation.”
China is seeking to gradually increase its influence in Latin America, where it is investing billions of dollars in infrastructure. Countries of Latin America have been targeted by China as part of its global quest for natural resources.
