Ecuadorian President Visits China, Seeking Close Trade and Investment Ties
July 1—Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa was in China last week as part of an international tour, also including Italy and Spain, and met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on June 27, to discuss strengthening ties across various fields, as well as promoting the Belt and Road Initiative, to which his country has belonged since 2018. Against the backdrop of a desperate economic and security crisis, Noboa is in search of expanded trade, investment, particularly in infrastructure and repair of Ecuador’s collapsed energy grid. The country is also in an acute debt crisis. As Ecuador is an export-dependent country, Noboa hopes to gain greater access to the Chinese market as well. China is Ecuador’s second largest trading partner, after the U.S.
To date, Noboa has made much of his political alliance with U.S. President Donald Trump, his support for Israel and basic alignment with U.S. foreign policy which isn’t about to change. He has sought U.S. military support, reinstatement of a U.S. military base and even deployment of U.S. troops arguing they are needed to fight drug cartels that have taken over much of the country.
This trip to China will not sit well with the many China-bashers in his administration. But Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld explained in an interview with CNN en español that Noboa’s trip to China reflects Ecuador’s “pragmatic foreign policy based on mutual respect for nations. Ecuador has a unique agenda of cooperation and work based on the interests we maintain with each country.” She carefully explained that Ecuador’s agenda with China is not necessarily the same as the one it has with the U.S. or the EU.
Ecuador has a long-standing relationship with China going back years, which was especially close under the 2007-2017 government of Rafael Correa and even continued under neoliberal banker President Guillermo Lasso. Ecuador has enjoyed a comprehensive strategic partnership with Beijing since November 2016, and signed a Free Trade Agreement in May 2023, which went into effect on May 1, 2024. China’s Foreign Ministry reported on June 27 that during their meeting, Xi told Noboa that Ecuador “has joined the great family of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI),” adding that Beijing has always developed its relations with Ecuador from a long-term and strategic perspective and is committed to working with the country to “advance in their comprehensive strategic partnership.” He particularly stressed the importance of implementing the policy goals agreed on at the China-CELAC Forum held in Beijing on May 13, and said that China and Ecuador “must be good friends who respect each other … as well as good partners that seek their common development.”
Noboa praised China’s “remarkable” economic and social development and said his government wants to cooperate with China “across various fields,” including trade, technology and education, and expand people-to-people and cultural exchanges. In her CNN interview, Sommerfield had indicated that Ecuador is also keenly interested in how China could help address the country’s severe energy crisis, as it is a world leader in production of the equipment and technology used in the area of renewable energy.