Spotlight: China, Ecuador upgrade relations to comprehensive strategic partnership

Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Ecuadoran counterpart, Rafael Correa, have decided to upgrade their countries's ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

The decision was announced in a joint statement issued by the two presidents after their meeting Thursday in Quito.

Xi's state visit to Ecuador on Thursday and Friday is the first by a Chinese president since the two countries established diplomatic ties 36 years ago.

"This visit has served to raise the level of our ties and formalize a comprehensive strategic partnership, the highest level of relations China has with any country in the world," Correa told a press conference after his meeting with Xi.

On Thursday, the two heads of state also witnessed the signing of cooperation agreements in production capacity, investment, industrial parks, and technology.

Correa said that the two foreign ministries will enhance cooperation to broaden consensus and consolidate political mutual trust.

In the past nine years, relations have reached "unprecedented" levels on the basis of political trust and mutual help, pragmatic cooperation, cultural and talent exchanges and multilateral coordination, Correa said.

Ecuadoran Foreign Minister Guillaume Long said Thursday that relations with China have benefited the Latin American country.

"With this relationship, we are consolidating the transformation of our economy, helping to change our primary export model to one that can develop added-value products ... accelerating the process of industrialization and raising our capacity for independent development," he said.

Alberto Acosta Burneo, editor-in-chief of the political and economic magazine Analisis Semanal, said that the new level of bilateral relations would strengthen cooperation in all areas, particularly economy and trade.

"This visit opens great expectations to find new sources of financing and cooperation. The commercial ties with China are very important. It (China) is a very important supplier of many goods for us, which is very positive," Acosta Burneo told Xinhua.

China has become Ecuador's third largest trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching 4.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2015, quadrupling in just 10 years.

Chinese investment and financing in Ecuador have exceeded 10 billion dollars and have helped with hundreds of infrastructure projects, including highways and hydropower plants. This includes Coca Codo Sinclair, the country's largest hydropower plant in its northeast, which was inaugurated by the two presidents on Friday.

Around 100 Chinese companies are operating in Ecuador in fields such as oil and gas, mining and energy.

Fernando Casado, a researcher at the Institute of Higher National Studies, said that the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership marked an "important milestone."

"Raising the strategic partnership ... is part of the view that bilateral relations are continuously improving and, without a doubt, highlights the importance and impact that Chinese cooperation has on Ecuador," he told Xinhua.

Casado said that Xi's visit will leave a positive result for Ecuador.

"Relations have not stopped improving since the start of the Correa government in 2007. Each year has seen a rise in exports," he said.

According to the expert, China's presence in Ecuador is important because there is no ideological interference nor any type of additional conditions. Endi