President of the Republic of Colombia Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego is paying a state visit to China from Tuesday (Oct 24). Yang Chengxi reports.

YANG CHENGXI, Beijing "At the invitation of President Xi Jinping, President of the Republic of Colombia Gustavo Petro is paying a state visit to China from Tuesday to Thursday, as the Latin American leader seeks to strengthen ties with the world's second-largest economy. According to Colombian officials, a major topic of the two presidents' discussion will be the construction of a metro system in the Colombian capital of Bogota. President Petro has previously said that he hopes China can further help Colombia with transportation projects based on the use of trains and electric technologies. The Bogota metro project is being carried out by a consortium of the China Harbour Engineering Company and Xi'an Rail Transit Group. It is the largest public works project in the country. President Petro's visit follows other Latin American leaders, namely Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro last month, and Chilean President Gabriel Boric, who took part in the just concluded Belt and Road Forum in Beijing. Although Colombia has not signed on to China's Belt and Road Initiative, trade and investment relations between the two sides have grown over the years. China is Colombia's second biggest trading partner, and bilateral trade volume reached 22.6 billion US dollars in 2022, showing a 13 percent year on year growth. One of the bright spots has been Colombia's exports to China, which grew by 25 percent last year, consisting of high-quality produce such as coffee and avocado. Yang Chengxi, CGTN, Beijing."