Bogotá, May 9 (EFE) .- Colombia’s interest in strengthening commercial ties with China during the IV Ministerial Meeting of the Forum of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and that country, which will be held next week in Beijing, is subject to controversy for the fear of some sectors to negative repercussions in the relationship with the United States.
In Beijing, Colombia will premiere at the Pro Tempore Presidency of the CELAC and President Gustavo Petro announced Tuesday that he will sign an intention agreement for the country to join the Chinese initiative of the Strip and the Route, also known as the new Silk routes, and expand commercial perspectives.
«The Colombian government, like any sovereign state, has the right to explore new commercial opportunities. However, these decisions must be guided by a strategic vision that guarantees real and sustainable benefits for the country, ”the Executive President of the Colombian Chamber of Commerce (Amcham Colombia), María Claudia Lacouture told Efe.
In Lacouture’s opinion, “it cannot be ignored that, both for Democrats and for Republicans in the United States, China’s expansion in Latin America represents a risk for their national security, and when this issue is part of security matters, US responses can be protected by laws that enable restrictive measures” as the recent imposition of tariffs on the whole world.
The United States is the main trade partner of Colombia, with an exchange of goods and services of 36.7 billion dollars in 2024 and a surplus of 1.3 billion dollars for the North American country.
Lacouture added that, in the case of China, “there is a lack of reciprocity” because in 2024, Colombia exported to that country only 2,377 million dollars, while imported 15,936 million dollars. That caused a deficit for the Andean country of 13,500 million dollars.
“In contrast, what exported to the US (14,337 million dollars) almost compensates for that imbalance,” he explains.
The other vision
However, there are those who, as former president Ernesto Samper, consider that Petro’s trip to China at the head of Celac “is a historical opportunity” for the country to enter the new Silk routes, of which 149 nations, 21 of them Latin American, are part of them, and thus “increase trade, investments, financing and cooperation between China, Asia and the rest of the world.”
“As president of the CELAC, Petro could present a series of initiatives that interest the region, such as the diversification of its trade, at a time when the United States closes doors to our exports,” Samper added.
I could also try to advance in «key programs such as the energy transition; a new financial architecture (…) the development of infrastructure works such as that of the interoceanic railways; Take advantage of advances in artificial intelligence for scientific research, and launch the Latin American drug regulation agenda, ”he said.
Petro himself acknowledged on Tuesday that at the IV Meeting Celac-China he will talk to Chinese President Xi Jinping, but he will “from you to you, not as kneeling” to see why Colombia has “a deficit for 14,000 million dollars annually.”
“That leads us to poverty and I don’t want China to be a poverty producer, therefore the trade balance has to be equated,” Petro added.
According to the Bank of the Republic, the accumulated of foreign direct investment in Colombia between 1994 and 2023 was 813.3 million dollars, well below that of the United States and Spain, and mainly intended for infrastructure, mining, energy and transport.
For Óscar Palma, professor of the Faculty of International, Political and Urban Studies of the University of the Rosario, the approach of Colombia to China comes from behind, “it is an objective that in a certain way Colombian foreign policy has been set for several governments.”
“In theory it should not be a problem to increase relations with China, but taking into account Petro’s foreign policy and especially his personality, this goes into shock directly with the US president, Donald Trump,” he explained to EFE.
“Zero sum” game
For Palma, it is worth asking “to what extent we are as in a kind of zero sum game in which the approach with China implies sacrificing the relationship with the United States” and affirms that “it should not be so” because “in the vision of long -term foreign policy, the country should have the ability to establish very solid relations with China and the United States at the same time.”
In this regard, the Colombian Deputy Minister of Multilateral Affairs, Mauricio Jaramillo Jassir, said today that “the fact of joining or not to the strip and the route (…) is a state commitment, it is a historical commitment and it is not a whim of government.”
“What we have confirmed (…) is that there is a great gap between what has been our projection to the Atlantic and to the Caribbean and a a little more lagged with the Pacific Asia,” added the vice chancellor. EFE
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