BEIJING—Colombian President Gustavo Petro will visit China this week, Beijing’s foreign ministry said Monday, with the leftist leader seeking to strengthen ties with the world’s second-largest economy.
Petro’s visit comes at the invitation of President Xi Jinping and will take place from Tuesday to Thursday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said.
He will meet with Xi on Wednesday, Colombia’s presidency said.
At the same time, China said it welcomes a visit by Australia’s prime minister next month, saying Beijing was keen to “strengthen” ties with Canberra as the two trading partners work to repair a once-frosty relationship.
Beijing’s foreign ministry said it hoped Anthony Albanese’s visit, due November 4 to 7 on the invitation of Premier Li Qiang, would help improve relations.
“A healthy and stable China-Australia relationship is in the fundamental interests of the two countries and their peoples, and is also conducive to regional and world peace and stability,” foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said.
“China is willing to work with Australia to strengthen high-level exchanges, enhance interaction and cooperation in various fields, promote the continuous development and improvement of bilateral relations, and better benefit the two peoples,” she added.
Xi and Petro two will discuss progress on construction of the subway system in Bogota — which is being overseen by a Chinese firm, it added.
China’s foreign ministry said Monday that relations with Colombia “have developed smoothly, and practical cooperation has yielded fruitful results, bringing tangible benefits to the two peoples”.
Xi will hold a welcome ceremony and a banquet for Petro, another Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, said.
“The two heads of state will hold talks to draw up a blueprint for the development of China-Colombia relations in the new era, and will jointly attend a signing ceremony for cooperation documents,” she added.
His visit follows that of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro last month.
Chilean President Gabriel Boric also visited the country last week as part of a summit of countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, a vast Chinese infrastructure project.
And while Bogota has not yet signed on to that initiative, Petro, Colombia’s first leftist president, has sought to deepen his country’s ties with its second-largest trading partner.
His appointment of film director Sergio Cabrera — who spent much of his childhood in China and served in Mao Zedong’s feared Red Guard youth brigades during the Cultural Revolution — as ambassador to Beijing was seen as part of an effort to strengthen relations.
“Although the Petro administration has not focused extensively on Colombia’s relationship with (China), that relationship is poised to expand,” Evan Ellis, a senior associate at the Washington-based CSIS think tank, wrote in a white paper last year.
