Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Thursday that China is willing to continue providing as much support as possible to Colombia in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and to conduct cooperation vaccination with the country.
In a telephone conversation with his Colombian counterpart Ivan Duque, Xi stressed that Sino-Colombian relations have developed in a healthy and stable manner in recent years and that bilateral pragmatic cooperation has not ceased to exist. ‘be improved and optimized.
Since the start of the COVID-19 epidemic, both parties have shown mutual sympathy and support to each other, demonstrating the depth of a friendship that is characterized by mutual aid and solidarity. in the face of difficulties, he said.
He said China is actively working to develop a new development paradigm, which will provide new cooperation opportunities for Colombia. China is also ready to work together with the Colombian side to promote further development of bilateral relations.
The two sides should continue to support each other and develop synergies between the Belt and Road Initiative and the Colombia-China Initiative, Xi added.
While deepening their traditional cooperation in the fields of energy, infrastructure, telecommunications, and various other sectors, the two countries are also expected to expand their cooperation to new areas, such as agriculture, livestock, new energies. , the digital economy and the creative industries, and deepen their exchanges and cooperation in the fields of culture, education, sports, and local exchanges, he added.
China will continue to encourage Chinese companies to invest and do business in Colombia, and stands ready to strengthen cooperation with Colombia within multilateral frameworks such as the United Nations, Xi said.
Mr. Duque meanwhile sent his best wishes to the Chinese people for the Spring Festival, and also wished them a Happy Lantern Festival.
Stressing that the year 2020 marked the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Colombia and China, he said he was delighted with the good development of bilateral relations between the two countries, and more particularly the fruitful results obtained through their economic and trade cooperation.
Colombia wants to see more Chinese companies invest in its territory and hopes to work together with China to plan the development of their relations over the next 40 years, deepen cooperation in areas such as trade, economy, science and technology, culture and sports, and strive to make bilateral relations even more fruitful, Duque said.
He thanked China for the valuable support it had given to Colombia’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular by providing it with Chinese vaccines, which have helped save many lives.
This aid attests to the deep friendship and important mutual trust between Colombia and China, he said, adding that Colombia looks forward to continuing to strengthen its vaccine cooperation with China.
