Noboa to meet with China’s Xi Jinping next week

President Daniel Noboa will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping June 27 as part of an international tour. “Ecuador and China have for years enjoyed a productive and positive relationship and the president’s visit is intended to reinforce that relationship and explore new opportunities,” Foreign Minister Gabriela Sommerfeld said Thursday.

Ecuador looks to strengthen its ties with China.

She added that the trade agree that went into effect in 2024 has provided a “significant economic boost” for Ecuador and said Noboa and Xi Jinping will discuss a number of additional joint projects. It is also believed discussions between the two leaders will include the possibility of new loans from Chinese banks.

Government Minister José De la Gasca, who will accompany Noboa to Beijing, said the meeting is important for “reassuring” China of Ecuador’s friendship, an apparent reference to Noboa’s recent efforts to strengthen ties with the U.S. “Our mutual interests are far greater than our differences and we recognize China’s support in many regards, including major infrastructure projects, in recent years,” de la Gasca said.

During his first overseas trip since the start of his second presidential term, Noboa will also visit with leaders of Spain and Italy.

University of Guayaquil economics professor Carlos Medina said the timing of Noboa’s China visit is crucial. “Following Noboa’s very public efforts to curry favor with [U.S. Presdient Donald] Trump, the government realizes it must demonstrate its relationship with China is just as important,” Medina says. “From a financial and strategic standpoint, ties to China are just as important, and possibly more important, than those with the U.S.”

According to government officials Medina has talked to, China has financial resources to offer Ecuador that the U.S. does not. “There was concern that the president’s [Noboa’s] visits with Trump carried political liabilities for the relationship with China, so this trip is intended to reassure Xi Jinping that Ecuador is still a friend and partner of China,” Medina said.

He continued: “Following the first few months of the Trump administration, there is now the realization that the U.S. has little to offer in terms of financial support. There were many threats but no offerings. The U.S. is deeply in debt and is withdrawing its foreign aid and foreign support around the world, while China appears to have money to loan and to invest.”