China’s Xi calls for ‘equal, multipolar world’ as he meets Uruguay leader
BEIJING, Feb 3 (Reuters) – China and Uruguay should work together to advance an “equal and orderly multipolar world”, President Xi Jinping told his counterpart Yamandu Orsi on Tuesday, as his countries signed up to cooperate in areas from trade to the environment.
Orsi’s visit was the first by a South American leader to the Chinese capital since the United States invaded Venezuela in January and captured then-President Nicolas Maduro in a raid.
A media pool report said Xi said China “supports Latin American and Caribbean countries in safeguarding their sovereignty, security and development interests” to help defuse an unstable international situation and “escalation of unilateral bullying.”
Xi said in his speech that China and Uruguay “should work together to advance an equal and orderly multipolar world and an economic globalization that is inclusive and provides universal benefit.”
The meeting follows extensive visits to China this year by Western prime ministers, from Britain’s Keir Starmer to Canada’s Mark Carney and Finland’s Petteri Orpo.
According to the pool report, Orsi said the strategic partnership between China and Uruguay was experiencing its “best moment” and called on both countries to “be determined to elevate it to a new level.”
He is leading a delegation of 150 people, including business leaders, during the visit, which will also visit the trade center Shanghai until Sunday, February 7.
China and Uruguay signed a declaration on Tuesday to deepen strategic partnership, as well as 12 documents on cooperation in fields ranging from science and technology to the environment, intellectual property and meat trade.
The pool report stated that Uruguay wants to increase trade in goods, especially through diversification, and invest more strongly in services and investments.
Francisco Urdinez, a professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, said the timing of the visit was symbolically important for China.
“For Beijing, hosting the Orsi shows that South American countries are willing to participate despite the increasingly polarized geopolitical environment.”
But Margaret Myers, director of the Inter-American Dialogue’s Asia and Latin America Program, said Uruguay’s relationship with Beijing will likely be shaped by renewed U.S. interest in Latin America and concerns about China’s involvement there.
“Following the actions in Venezuela, both China and many Latin American countries are considering the possibility of continued US intervention in the region.”
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Xi said China is “willing to work with Uruguay and other regional countries to deepen and consolidate the construction of a China-Latin American community with a shared future.”
He added that he supports Uruguay in assuming the rotating chairmanship of the Group of 77+, aiming to increase solidarity in the Global South.
“The world today is experiencing profound changes not seen in a century, with a complex and volatile international situation and increasing unilateral bullying,” Xi said, adding that China has always attached great importance to relations with Latin America.
China was Uruguay’s most preferred destination for exports in 2025, exporting agricultural products from wood pulp to soybeans and beef.
Uruguay, which had a trade surplus of 187.1 million dollars with China in the first half of 2025, imports machinery, electronics and chemical products.
Diego Telias, a professor at Universidad ORT Uruguay, said meat and soy exports have traditionally played a central role in relations, but areas such as dairy products and services exports hold potential.
(Reporting by Beijing newsroom; Writing by Farah Master; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Thomas Derpinghaus and Clarence Fernandez)
