This is the second visit of the Foreign Minister, Francisco Bustilloto the People’s Republic of China and has the objective of advancing with the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that has halted its negotiations nine months ago.
This Monday Minister Bustillo held an audience with the President of the Association of Friendship of the Chinese People with Foreigners (AAPCHE), Ambassador Lin Songtian. At the meeting, they congratulated themselves on “the excellent state of bilateral ties” and agreed on the need to continue “transforming existing mutual trust into new instruments and tangible benefits for both peoples.”
Then, the Uruguayan foreign minister participated in a reception at the Embassy of the Republic in Beijing and AAPCHE in commemoration of the 35th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between Uruguay and China. The foreign minister celebrated the achievements made in these 35 years and promised to “continue working on strengthening bilateral exchanges.”
Bustillo will meet at 10 pm – Uruguayan time – with the Chinese foreign minister, wang yiand, later, at 1:30 am, with the commercial representative of China from the Ministry of Commerce (mofcom).
Good forecasts and possible help from Lula
Before leaving for China, Minister Bustillo gave a press conference at the airport where he remarked that “there may be a good visit” and that he sought to deliver “the baton closest to the goal”.
On the other hand, he expressed the importance of the possibility that the president of Brazil, Lula da Silva, arrive in the Asian country. “Perhaps it is one more element that helps to better international insertion,” said Bustillo.
The delays in continuing with the FTA negotiations were not accidental, and coincided with electoral times in Brazil and the possibility of a political change of government that finally happened. The return of Lula da Silva to the presidency meant the reopening of the key alliance between the two powers – members of the BRICS— and, therefore, of new lines of negotiation at the regional level.
The scenario changed and so Brazil began to play a more important role in the Uruguayan FTA. This was also understood by Lacalle Pou, who moderated his attitude towards regional partners and approached the Brazilian president as a possible access route to a cold and increasingly distant China in terms of bilateral trade.
Source: Ambito
