China Colombia sign Belt and Road cooperation pact

BEIJING - Colombia formally agreed on May 14 to join China’s vast Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, as Beijing draws Latin America closer in a bid to counter the US.

Latin America has emerged as a key battleground in US President Donald Trump’s confrontations with China, and the region is coming under pressure from Washington to choose a side.

China has surpassed the US as the biggest trading partner of Brazil, Peru, Chile and other Latin American nations, and two-thirds of countries there have signed up to Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road infrastructure drive.

On the sidelines of a major gathering of regional leaders in Beijing on May 14, Colombia became the latest country to join the massive global initiative.

Colombia’s Foreign Ministry hailed the agreement as a “historic step that opens up new opportunities for investment, technological cooperation and sustainable development for both countries”.

After a meeting with Colombian President Gustavo Petro, Mr Xi urged the countries to take the opportunity of Colombia formally joining the “Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) family” to enhance their cooperation, Beijing’s state media said.

Posting a video of the signing to social media platform X, Mr Petro wrote that “the history of our foreign relations is changing. From now on, Colombia will interact with the entire world on a footing of equality and freedom”.

The BRI is a central pillar of Mr Xi’s bid to expand China’s economic and political clout overseas.

For more than a decade, it has provided investment for infrastructure and other large-scale projects around the world, offering Beijing political and economic leverage in return.

Mr Xi inaugurated Latin America’s first Beijing-funded port in Chancay, Peru, in 2024 – a symbol of the Asian superpower’s growing influence on the continent.

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