Ecuador, China sign trade deal, deepening Chinese influence in Latam

The governments of Ecuador and China signed a free trade agreement this week, deepening a relationship that for months has been under expectations of more advanced economic ties. 

The information was confirmed by the Chinese Commerce Ministry on Thursday. The department participated in an online meeting with Ecuador’s production minister, Julio José Prado, who said the agreement will allow the South American nation to sell 99.6 percent of its products without tariffs. 

According to Mr. Prado, products such as bananas, quinoa, or shrimp have growth potential under the new resolution. He also said that the agreement, signed after only ten months of negotiations, was concluded in the “most efficient way” between Ecuador and China. 

Ecuador is now the fourth Latin American country to sign a trade agreement with Beijing. The announcement comes after China overcame the U.S as Ecuador’s biggest non-oil trading partner last year.

The new deal also comes more than a year after Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso — who is sailing in troubled waters at home and could be the target of a new impeachment process — last visited China, where he went to renegotiate terms of the country’s USD 5 billion debt with the Asian giant. 

The issue also has geopolitical implications, spilling over into the current U.S.-China proxy war for economic dominance in Latin America. 

• Go deeper:A look at China’s growing footprint in Latin America

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