China, Uruguay eye further cooperation

The leaders of China and Uruguay have agreed to further their cooperation in various fields with an aim to step up their bilateral relations. The agreement was reached when Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with his visiting Uruguayan counterpart Jose Mujica on Monday in downtown Beijing, pledging China will strengthen exchanges and cooperation with Uruguay to share opportunities as well as tackle challenges for their national development. Highlighting the robust growth of bilateral relations in the past 25 years since the establishment of the China-Uruguay diplomatic relationship, Xi noted that the relationship between China and Uruguay has become a model for developing nations to foster their ties. He called on the two sides to maintain their high-level exchanges among legislatures, governments and political parties, consolidate political mutual trust and step up exchanges of successful experiences on the management of their national development. "The two sides should substantially carry out the five-year plan for the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, and implement joint projects in the fields of automobile manufacture, telecommunications, finance and chemical industry," Xi said, urging accelerated negotiation of proposed investment agreements and that key areas of importance for future bilateral cooperation be sorted out. China will encourage its companies to participate in the construction of Uruguayan ports and railways, Xi told Mujica, proposing the two nations also cement their cooperation on agriculture and animal husbandry, boost exchanges between their young people as well as humanitarian and cultural exchanges. "The two nations should work closer and strengthen coordination on regional and international issues in a bid to increase the representativeness of developing nations," according to China's president. Xi said his impending visits to the three Latin American and Caribbean nations of Trinidad and Tobago, Costa Rica and Mexico, is aimed at promoting a comprehensive China-Latin America partnership and achieving joint development and prosperity for the two peoples. China will intensify its dialogue and cooperation with the member nations of the Common Market of the South (Mercosur), he also vowed. Agreeing with Xi's views, Mujica said Uruguay is committed to establishing a long-term, sustainable and mutually beneficial relationship with China and called for joint efforts to expand bilateral trade, in which the share of products with high-added value should be further increased. Uruguay welcomes Chinese companies to invest and establish their businesses in such fields as manufacture and assembling of auto parts, and the down-stream process of wool products, he added. The Uruguayan president also briefed Xi on latest developments in Mercosur and Latin American integration, noting that China is an important partner of the Latin American nations and they all attach great importance to ties with China and welcome China to play an active role in pushing forward development in the region. "Uruguay will help promote China-Latin America relations and China-Mercosur cooperation," the Uruguayan president promised. After the talks, the two leaders also witnessed the signing of a series of bilateral agreement documents covering areas ranging from trade, education, to information and telecommunication. At the invitation of Xi, Mujica is paying a state visit to China from May 25 to 28.