Colombia has joined the long list of Latin American countries that have signed up to China’s key infrastructure initiative. The move comes after a Beijing summit of leaders from the region.
Colombia has signed a deal bringing it into Chinese President Xi Jinping‘s signature Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Beijing’s state media said on Wednesday.
The agreement came after a bilateral meeting between Xi and Colombian President Gustavo Petro that followed a Chinese-hosted summit of Latin American and Caribbean leaders in Beijing.
Two-thirds of Latin American countries have already signed up to the infrastructure initiative, which aims to give Beijing global political and economic clout in exchange for Chinese investment in infrastructure and other large-scale projects.
Latin America has become a key arena as Washington and Beijing vie for global influence.
Chinese state media also quoted Xi as saying at the meeting of the two that China was “ready to import more Colombian products of high quality.”
Petro wrote on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, that “the history of our foreign relations is changing.”
