Colombian ambassador to China welcomes more Chinese investment
By Zhu Feng
03:55

Colombian Ambassador to China Luis Diego Monsalve said Colombia welcomes Chinese investments, especially for the country's infrastructure construction. 

Monsalve said China and Colombia have deepened cooperation in multiple areas since President Xi Jinping met with his Colombian counterpart Ivan Duque in Beijing in July 2019.

At the China Green Companies Summit held in Haikou at the end of September, Monsalve told CGTN, "Hainan is and will come more like a door, an opening door for the rest of the world coming to China."

His comments came after the Chinese central government announced in June an overall plan to build the island into a free-trade port with more favorable taxation policies. 

Later in August, the local government issued a guidebook for investment in the free-trade port, which is also available in English. Monsalve noticed that Hainan has a very developed tourism industry, which attracts visitors from all around the world. He believed that the free-trade port in Hainan provides "a big opportunity to start exchanging products and services."

China and Colombia maintain close economic ties. China is Colombia's second-largest trade partner while Colombia is China's fifth-largest trade partner in Latin America. Official data shows that bilateral trade volume amounted to $15.6 billion in 2019, up by 6.8 percent from the preceding year. 

The two countries also work closely in oil exploration and telecommunications. Monsalve noticed that Chinese companies are strong in clean energy and IT. He said that Colombia welcomes more Chinese investments in the two areas.

In 2019, a consortium led by Chinese firms won the bid for Colombia's biggest metro project as the subway car supplier in its capital Bogota. The $5-billion subway project "will take 4 or 5 years to be completed. But once it's done, it's gonna revolutionize the whole city… it's gonna help a lot to move the city. In economic terms, it saves a lot money and time," said Monsalve.