Ecuador’s President discusses cooperation with his Chinese counterpart

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The president of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, held a conversation with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, with whom he addressed issues related to bilateral cooperation and a possible free trade agreement, it was reported Monday.

“I had the honor of talking with the President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping. It was a fruitful and constructive call,” the head of state indicated in his Twitter account.

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He added: “We will continue to cooperate in vaccination, enhance our trade relationship and strengthen bilateral coordination.”

The Government of Ecuador, which took office on May 24, is advancing in the vaccination process with the certainty that it will fulfill its promise to inoculate nine million people with the complete vaccination schedule in the first 100 days of its Government, which will be completed this Tuesday. However, there will be a slight delay of a few days.

In Ecuador, vaccines of different origins are applied, mostly the Chinese Sinovac and CanSino, the latter a single dose type.

In a press release, the Presidency indicated that during the conversation, Lasso expressed his gratitude to his Chinese counterpart for the direct steps taken for the accelerated supply of vaccines.

The telephone conversation took place on Sunday night to boost bilateral relations and cooperation between both countries. The two leaders even talked about the possibility of a free trade agreement.

This commercial agreement would allow stimulating and diversifying the commercial relationship and, therefore, generating more employment and development for Ecuador, reads the document, which underlines “the desire to initiate the corresponding bilateral negotiations as soon as possible”.

Likewise, Lasso raised the possibility of analyzing new economic cooperation formats to improve China’s financing conditions for Ecuador, within a framework of respect and mutual benefit, given that the loans still pending repayment are at notoriously high interest rates.

The Chinese president, for his part, highlighted the excellent level of the bilateral relationship, thanks to the importance that both countries attach to the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, an agreement signed between Ecuador and China in 2016 for the management of their relations at the highest level.

And he made clear his support for the presence of significant Chinese investment in sectors that may be of interest for Ecuador’s development, now that it plans to open its portfolio to attract foreign investment.

Finally, both presidents highlighted the existing level of coordination in the most important international forums on issues of global interest such as support for multilateralism, the fight against Covid-19, deep-sea fishing, climate change mitigation, the fight against poverty, the fight against corruption, and the Celac-China dialogue.

During his presidential campaign, the center-right Lasso offered to expand Ecuador’s relations with the world, especially trade relations, and has already taken steps in that direction with the US and Mexico.

Ecuadorian foreign policy has shifted in the last decade from proximity to the so-called 21st Century Socialism, under Rafael Correa (2007-2017), to greater rapprochement with the United States and multilateral financial organizations during the administration of Lenín Moreno, Lasso’s predecessor.