China, Ecuador lift ties to comprehensive strategic partnership

Chinese President Xi Jinping holds talks with Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa in Quito, Ecuador, Nov. 17, 2016. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)

QUITO, Nov. 17 -- China and Ecuador agreed on Thursday to lift their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership, in a bid to further cement strategic mutual trust and boost bilateral win-win cooperation.

The decision was announced during Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Ecuador, the first of its kind since the two countries established diplomatic relations 36 years ago.

In his talks with Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, Xi, who arrived in Ecuador Thursday afternoon, said Ecuador is an important country in Latin America, adding that bilateral ties have witnessed substantial development in recent years.

China and Ecuador established a strategic partnership in Correa's second official visit to Beijing in 2015, and Ecuador is now a major destination for Chinese investment and financing in Latin America.

In April this year, Ecuador was hit by 7.8-magnitude earthquake, and China was one of the first countries to offer support, providing 2 million U.S. dollars of cash and 9.2 million dollars' worth of humanitarian aid.

Xi noted that since 2015, mutually beneficial cooperation between the two sides have seen rapid development in a wide range of areas, with the scale of collaboration continuing to increase.

Bilateral ties have since been greatly enriched and have been picking up momentum towards comprehensive development, he added.

The Chinese president said China-Ecuador relations have now entered a key phase where cooperation between the two countries is of greater importance to both sides.

China will continue to support Ecuador in pursuing a development path that suits its own conditions, and will actively take part in Ecuador's post-earthquake reconstruction, he said.

China is willing to reinforce practical cooperation with the Ecuadorian side in all areas, comprehensively step up the integration of interests of both sides, expand people-to-people exchanges, and open up brighter prospects for the development of bilateral ties, Xi said.

He went on to pledge support for Ecuador's presidency of the Group of 77 (G77) next year, saying that China is willing to maintain close cooperation with G77 in multilateral affairs.

China is also willing to work with Ecuador to boost overall cooperation with Latin America and push for greater development in China-Latin America relations, he added.

For his part, Correa likened Xi's visit to "a get-together between friends," and said he believes the Chinese president's Ecuadorian trip will serve to boost bilateral relations and cooperation, and bring more benefits to people on both sides.

He said the Ecuadorian side appreciates China's firm support in its quake relief and post-quake reconstruction.

Ecuador always sticks to the one China policy, and is committed to strengthening exchanges and cooperation between the two countries in political, economic as well as people-to-people fields, Correa said.

As the rotating chair of the G77 next year, Ecuador will work to forge closer collaboration within the framework of "G77 plus China" within multilateral organizations, he said.

Despite the long distance between the two countries, cooperation between China and Ecuador in trade and finance has yielded great success.

China is now the third biggest trade partner for Ecuador, while the latter is now a major destination for Chinese investment and financing in Latin America. Two-way trade reached 4.1 billion dollars in 2015, quadrupling in just 10 years.

In their talks, the two presidents agreed to take the elevation of bilateral ties as a new starting point to deepen strategic mutual trust, seek greater achievements in mutually beneficial cooperation and boost healthier and faster development in bilateral ties.

The two sides also pledged respect for each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as mutual understanding and support over each other's core interests and major concerns, and agreed to expand high-level exchanges by facilitating communication between their governments, legislatures and political parties as well as at local levels.

The two sides will maintain close contact and coordination on bilateral ties and issues of mutual concern, and work to expand their consensus and consolidate political mutual trust.

They agreed to beef up integration of their respective development strategies, tap into their complementary economic and trade potentials, and seek sustained, stable and balanced two-way trade.

The two sides pledged to further enhance cooperation in such fields as production capacity, investment, technology, oil and gas, mining, infrastructure, water conservancy, telecommunication and finance, while mulling collaboration in such sectors as agriculture, petrochemistry, ship-building, metallurgy and paper-making.

In addition, they agreed to intensify exchanges and cooperation in the areas of education, culture, science, health, sports, tourism, media and youth, and boost the friendship between the two peoples.

The two sides also reiterated their adherence to the purpose and principles laid out in the UN Charter, and pledged to step up communication and cooperation within multilateral mechanisms such as the UN and the G77, in order to shore up South-South cooperation and better protect the common interests of developing countries.

They agreed to deepen the China-Latin America comprehensive cooperative partnership of equality, mutual benefit and common development, and expressed willingness to work with other Latin American countries to lift China-Latin America ties to higher levels.

Also on Thursday, Xi and Correa witnessed the signing of a string of cooperation agreements in such areas as production capacity, investment, industrial parks, economic technologies, judiciary and media.

Ecuador is the first leg of Xi's ongoing three-nation Latin America tour, which will also take him to Peru and Chile. This is his third visit to Latin America since he took over the Chinese presidency in March 2013.

While in Lima, capital of Peru, he will attend the 24th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Economic Leaders' Meeting.