President Luis Lacalle Pou began a busy agenda of meetings and activities in China, with the aim of improving the commercial and diplomatic relations between Uruguay and the Asian giant. But the Uruguayan delegation is not the only one that has expectations regarding the key tour, but the hosts also hope to deepen the relationship between both countries.
The visit of Lacalle Pou, the first in his mandate, occurs in the year that marks the 35th anniversary of the establishment of relations between Uruguay and China, so it also seems the perfect framework to strengthen the relationships that, in recent months, have taken a different turn. more regional than bilateralmuch to the chagrin of the Uruguayan government.
From the country led by Xi Jinpingthey hope that the thematic agenda will revolve around the negotiation of a free trade agreement; the consolidation of trade in goods, especially in the dairy market; and expanding cooperation in areas such as sustainable and digital developmentas reported by the Global Times agency, based on information from Chinese observers.
These topics are also key to Uruguay in its objective of unblocking the negotiations around the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that has been months without concrete progress after China will prioritize relationships with Mercosur over bilateral exchanges with a country that, objectively, cannot be compared in terms of size and trade volume to Brazil and Argentina or even the region itself.
On the other hand, the question of dairy products It is a good sign, since it is an area in which Uruguayan exports towards the Asian country they have been falling significantly, harming the local productive sector.
According to the spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Mao Ning, China believes that the visit of Lacalle Pou will further consolidate the traditional friendship between both countries—which has improved significantly since 2016—will deepen the political trust mutual, will improve cooperation practice to a higher level and will take bilateral relations to a new scale.
Trust and consolidation of relationships
For Pan Deng, director of Law Center of the Latin American and Caribbean Region of the University of Political Sciences and Law of China, it is logical to expect that Lacalle Pou work in increase trading volume of beef and dairy products during his visit to the Asian country; taking advantage of the recognition that these products have among Chinese consumers.
As in the case of dairy products, placements of beef in China They are severely deteriorated, mainly due to the economic circumstances of the destination country. In this sense, a preference for the consumption of available stock and a lower sustained demand have made meat exports fall for 15 months in a rowUntil now.
Pan, who is general secretary of the Latin American branch of the Association of Western Returned Scholarshighlighted to the Global Times the unusual political stability of Uruguay —compared to other countries in the region—, and noted that this can be an advantage for Lacalle Pou use when negotiating cooperation in the fields of sustainable trade and digital development with China, considering that it aspires to turn the country into one of the pioneers of regional border economies.
The FTA negotiation It could also be a topic of discussion, according to the specialist. This would not only be an economic achievement for Lacalle Pou, but also a great point in favor in political terms, considering that the signing of this agreement is one of the great challenges that structure its policy of opening of markets which, so far, has not obtained important results.
Source: Ambito
