Senior Chinese official visits Colombia

BOGOTA, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Li Shulei, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, led a CPC delegation to visit Colombia from Wednesday to Friday at the invitation of the country's ruling coalition "Historic Pact for Colombia."

During the visit, Li met with President of the Congress and Senate of Colombia Efrain Cepeda and Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo respectively, and held talks with leaders of member parties of the ruling coalition and other major political parties.

During Colombian President Gustavo Petro's successful visit to China last October, he and Chinese President Xi Jinping jointly announced the establishment of a strategic partnership between the two countries, opening a new chapter in the development of China-Colombia relations, Li said.

As 2025 marks the 45th anniversary of bilateral relations, Li said China is willing to work with Colombia to follow through on the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, deepen political mutual trust, expand economic and trade cooperation, strengthen exchanges in such fields as culture, media, tourism and academic research, and reinforce international cooperation.

China welcomes Colombia to join the Belt and Road cooperation at an early date and boost the synergy of the development strategies of the two countries, said Li, adding the CPC is willing to strengthen exchanges with Colombian political parties, deepen exchanges of governance and administration experience, and promote party building and national development of the two countries.

The Colombian side extended congratulations on the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China and expressed willingness to take the 45th anniversary of bilateral ties as an opportunity to jointly implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, actively participate in the Belt and Road cooperation, continue to deepen trade and investment cooperation and enrich the people-to-people exchanges.

Colombia is ready to strengthen cooperation and coordination in international affairs and work together for the success of the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity to be held in Colombia.

Colombia will, as always, adhere to the one-China principle. Political parties of Colombia are willing to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with the CPC and push for sustained and in-depth development of the Colombia-China strategic partnership.