Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Friday that the country is ready to advance high-quality cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and engage in discussions on signing cooperation plans. 

Wang made the remarks in a phone conversation with Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Juan Carlos Holguin. China is willing to make joint efforts with Ecuador to build health, digital and green Silk Roads, Wang said. 

Holguin said Ecuador stands ready to keep deepening BRI cooperation with China, accelerate negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement, and enrich their practical cooperation in various fields. 

Proposed by China in 2013, the BRI comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, and aims to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along and beyond the ancient Silk Road routes. 

China and Ecuador officially launched free trade agreement talks in February. Remarkable progress has been made in bilateral trade and economic cooperation in recent years. Trade volume between the two countries amounted to $10.95 billion in 2021, a 44.5 percent growth from the previous year. 

Wang said the two countries should consolidate political mutual trust, enhance coordination and collaboration, and strengthen support to each other on issues concerning their respective core interests. 

He called on the two sides to jointly safeguard true multilateralism and build a community with a shared future for mankind. 

Holguin said the friendship between Ecuador and China is rooted in people of the two countries, adding that it will not be shaken by any international force. 

Ecuador firmly supports the one-China principle and is ready to consolidate political mutual trust with China, he said. 

He thanked China for its support to Ecuador in fields such as epidemic control, health and infrastructure construction.