Chinese President Calls for 'Equal, Multipolar World' in Meeting With His Uruguayan Counterpart

Reuters

Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi walks with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, 3 February 2026.

China and Uruguay should work together to advance an “equal and orderly multipolar world”, Chinese President Xi Jinping told his Uruguayan counterpart, Yamandu Orsi, on Tuesday, as the two countries signed agreements to cooperate in areas ranging from trade to environmental protection.

President Orsi’s visit marks the first by a South American leader to Beijing since the United States invaded Venezuela in January and captured then-President Nicolas Maduro in a raid.

According to a media pool report, President Xi said China supports Latin American and Caribbean countries in upholding their sovereignty, security and development interests, and in helping to defuse a volatile international situation and what he described as “escalating unilateral bullying.”

China and Uruguay should "work together to advance an equal and orderly multipolar world and an inclusive, universally beneficial economic globalisation," President Xi said in his remarks.

The meeting comes in the wake of a flurry of visits to China by Western prime ministers this year, from Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer to Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney and Finland's Prime Minister Petteri Orpo.

President Orsi said the strategic partnership of China and Uruguay was going through its "best moment," and called for both nations to "commit to raising it to a new level", the pool report added.

He is leading a delegation of 150, including business leaders, on a visit from Sunday until 7 February, which will also swing through the commercial hub of Shanghai.

China and Uruguay signed a declaration on Tuesday to deepen their strategic partnership, along with 12 cooperation documents covering areas including science and technology, the environment, intellectual property and the meat trade.

According to the pool report, Uruguay seeks to expand trade in goods—particularly through diversification—and to strengthen cooperation in services and investment.

China "is willing to work with Uruguay and other regional countries to deepen and solidify the building of a China-Latin America community with a shared future," President Xi said.

It backs Uruguay in taking on the rotating presidency of the Group of 77+, he added, aiming to boost solidarity in the Global South.

"The world today is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century, with a complex and volatile international situation and escalating unilateral bullying," President Xi said, adding that China had always attached great importance to ties with Latin America.

China was the leading destination for Uruguayan exports in 2025, importing agricultural products ranging from wood pulp to soybeans and beef.

Uruguay recorded a trade surplus of $187.1 million with China in the first half of 2025, while importing machinery, electronics and chemicals from the country.

Source: Reuters



PUKMEDIA