Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu will visit Uruguay in the middle of next month to begin dialogue between the Asian giant and the regional bloc.
Uruguay continues to work on consolidating and deepening its relationship with China and, eventually, achieve the long-awaited and delayed Free Trade Agreement (FTA)either bilaterally —as originally planned— or jointly with the countries of the Mercosur. In this regard, the government expects the visit of the Chinese vice-chancellor. Ma Zhaoxu by August while, in parallel, it moves forward with the regional agreement in the first months of the pro tempore presidency of the bloc.
President Luis Lacalle Pou He met with his counterpart on Wednesday Argentina, Javier Milei, and, according to sources from the Foreign Ministry who spoke to Radio Monte Carlo, the Mercosur It was one of the points included in the open agenda of the approximately one-hour conversation between the leaders.
In this context, the Flexibility of the regional bloc and trade talks with China were placed on the office table in Pink House. There, Lacalle Pou told Milei that he will not only seek to promote negotiations with the Asian giant as a group of South American countries, but that on August 12 he will receive the Chinese vice-chancellor with the intention of intensifying said negotiations.
August, a key month for Mercosur-China talks
With the arrival of the Chinese vice-chancellor, Montevideo The first step will be taken in the Mercosur-China dialogue, one of the major objectives of the Uruguayan government during its pro tempore presidency of the bloc (until the end of the year); and almost as compensation for the failed bilateral FTA that, although it was not scrapped, was delayed long enough to no longer be an achievement noted for the current administration.
The first time President Lacalle Pou proposed broad dialogue was after returning from his diplomatic tour to Beijing, already requested by Xi Jinpingin December of last year; and the idea was well received by the Argentine government given the little progress regarding the agreement with the European Union (EU).
“We are going to ask for a meeting of the heads of state of the Mercosur with the Chinese head of state. If not, the technical services of the Mercosur meet with China, because there hasn’t been a meeting for a long time. And it’s very important, China “He loves her,” Lacalle Pou said at the time, with the intention of “getting the ball rolling.”
However, the different national situations, both in South American countries and in the Asian giant, delayed the progress of the talks.
Now, with Uruguay holding the pro tempore presidency of the bloc, this line of negotiation will be “one of the important flags,” as the foreign minister pointed out. Omar Paganini. And August could be the key month for this.
Source: Ambito
