Chinese President Xi Jinping held dozens of quick sideline bilateral meetings with various international leaders over the past several weeks but few were as important as the one with Chile’s Gabriel Boric at the APEC summit in Bangkok on Friday.
President Boric was elected earlier this year and is part of the leftist wave that swept across South American politics with a new slate of leaders who are all eager to forge closer ties with China. But what makes Chile important to China is its location atop some of the world’s largest reserves of lithium — a key ingredient to power electric vehicle batteries.
Chile, together with Argentina and Bolivia, make up the “Lithium Triangle” that collectively accounts for a third of the world’s known reserves.
It’s not surprising then that President Xi was eager to invite his Chilean counterpart to visit Beijing next year. (REUTERS)
PERU: Foreign Minister Cesar Landa met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Bangkok. No specifics from the meeting were released. China has been keen to lobby CPTPP members, including Peru, in an effort to bolster its application to join the regional trade pact. (XINHUA)
PERU: While Kenya, Colombia and the U.S. are all struggling to boost avocado exports to China, new data shows that Peru is absolutely dominating the market with 26,000 metric tons shipped this year — 11% more than in 2021. (U.S. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION)
