Uruguay to advance ties with China: FM

MONTEVIDEO -- Uruguay's newly-installed government plans to continue to strengthen bilateral and multilateral ties with China, said Ernesto Talvi, the country's new foreign minister, on Monday.

The new administration will strive to actively deepen ties between Mercosur (the Southern Common Market) and China, Talvi told reporters, but "that is not going to diminish the efforts we are going to continue to make to deepen bilateral relations."

Mercosur gathers Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay.

Talvi made the remarks after he and Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou, who was sworn in on Sunday, met with China's Minister of Ecology and Environment Li Ganjie earlier in the day.

Li was in Uruguay to attend Lacalle Pou's inauguration ceremony as the special envoy of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

"We expect to continue this relationship, which has been very intense and very productive, and will certainly continue to deepen over the coming months and years within the context of Mercosur and bilaterally," Talvi said.

China is Uruguay's leading trade partner and top export market.