Panama leader to make first visit to China, open embassy

Panama President Juan Carlos Varela Rodriguez will visit China and inaugurate his country's embassy in Beijing five months after diplomatic relations were established.

The visit, which begins on Thursday, will provide business opportunities for the two countries, experts said on Wednesday.

At the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Varela will pay a state visit to China from November 16 to 22, the Chinese foreign ministry said.

Varela will arrive on Thursday in Beijing to grace the official opening of Panama's embassy, the first visit of a Panamanian president after the Latin American country cut ties with Taiwan in June.

Panama is the second Central American country to establish diplomatic relations with China, after Costa Rica in 2007.

Panama has

promised to firmly abide by the one-China policy and have no official contact with Taiwan.

Panama’s embassy was operating in July out of its previous commercial development office in the Tayuan Diplomatic Compound in Beijing’s Chaoyang district.

The two countries had set up commercial development offices in 1996.

China officially opened its embassy in Panama in September.

Yang Zhimin, a Chinese Academy of Social Sciences researcher, told the Global Times that the embassies will facilitate people-to-people exchanges. With consular support, tourism and business services will further increase.

Varela will also travel to Shanghai with his 100-plus-person delegation on a bullet train, the South China Morning Post reported.

Investment potential

“President Varela’s visit to China will cement the establishment of diplomatic relations and bring new impetus to the Panamanian economy,” Wu Baiyi, director of the CASS’ Institute of Latin American Studies, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Before the two countries established diplomatic ties, trade was restricted, Wu said. Varela will be seeking new commercial opportunities under President Xi’s Belt and Road initiative, such as infrastructure development, Wu said.

At least 15 agreements, covering agriculture, aviation and tourism, are expected to be signed, South China Morning Post reported, citing Panama’s new ambassador to Beijing, Francisco Carlo Escobar.

The Latin American country is trying to maintain its important position in canal trading and bring vitality to Panama market by joining China’s rapid track of social and economy development, Wu said.

“China’s huge foreign investment potential is a timely help to Panama, a country affected by the global economic downturn due to low trading mobility,” he said.

China is the second-biggest client of the Panama Canal after the US, and the top supplier of goods to Panama’s Colon duty-free zone, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

“China could participate in Panama’s port, railway and urban construction, and build industrial parks in Colon. A free-trade deal with Panama is also possible in the future,” Wu said.

The International Business Daily reported that Panama is China’s eighth largest trade partner in Central America, with some 30 Chinese companies operating in the country, such as Bank of China and Huawei.

Closer commercial and political ties with Panama will serve as a model to help China better connect with Latin America and boost regional cooperation, Yang said.