Photo: Lu Ting/Global Times

Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi continued his ongoing state visit to China on Friday with a stop in Shanghai, where he headlined the China-Uruguay Business and Investment Forum alongside business leaders, trade associations, and company executives from both nations eager to forge new deals. The president also took time to explore a Shanghai museum.

When addressing the forum, Orsi emphasized the strategic importance of the bilateral relationship with China - Uruguay's integral strategic partner and top trading partner for 14 consecutive years.

Orsi said that "that's why we're here: we want to listen, identify opportunities, and build long-term joint projects" and "I invite you to see Uruguay not only as a market, but as a strategic partner, a reliable platform, and a gateway to South America."

Marking 38 years of diplomatic ties, Orsi declared that Uruguay, among the first in Latin America to embrace the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and a steadfast participant in the China International Import Expo (CIIE) for eight consecutive years, stands ready to elevate the comprehensive strategic partnership to a higher level through this landmark state visit.

"Looking ahead, we will continue to meet at events such as the CIIE, one of the most important international trade fairs in the world, held annually in this same city, in which our country has participated consecutively for almost a decade," Orsi said.

Orsi stated that China has long been Uruguay's largest trading partner. Against the backdrop of increasing global economic volatility and uncertainty in the international trade environment, this fact demonstrates the stability, predictability, and resilience of China-Uruguay bilateral relations.

In 2025, China once again consolidated itself as the main destination of Uruguayan goods exports, concentrating 26 percent of the total,with special emphasis on soybeans and beef, said the president.

"Bilateral trade and economic exchanges between China and Uruguay have entered into a more solid and mature phase, a testament to the firm foundation of their relations and the mutual trust forged through years of sustained cooperation," Orsi said.

More than 200 representatives from the political and business communities of China and Uruguay attended the forum, according to the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, a co-organizer of the event.

"China-Uruguay economic ties is evolving very rapidly into more technological aspects like computing, artificial Intelligence, in which China is also leading in the world. Therefore, from technology aspect as well as also for green energy, there is a lot of increasing cooperation between Uruguay and China," Juan Pablo, a Uruguayan entrepreneur, told the Global Times on Friday at the sidelines of the forum.

He is one of the few Shanghai-based Uruguayan entrepreneurs and he had lunch with President Orsi on Friday, according to Pablo.

"In this complicated world market, I think it is very important to reinforce, stabilize and to look at the long-term relationship of the cooperation with an important global player like China. China is also interested in South America. In this sense, it's a win-win cooperation," said Pablo.

Ren Lei, Chief Representative at Uruguay Exporters Association Shanghai Representative Office, told the Global Times on Friday at the sidelines of the forum that the union has been actively promoting Uruguayan companies' transition from simply "selling raw materials" to upgrading along the value chain. Beyond traditional agriculture, cooperation in emerging fields such as technology and new energy has become a new highlight in China-Uruguay ties.  

"Among the delegation accompanying the president is a Uruguayan unicorn in the payments industry, which is actively seeking partnerships with Chinese companies to help advance the development of South America's financial payments ecosystem," said Ren.

Before attending the business forum, Orsi made a tour to Shanghai Museum East (East Branch of the Shanghai Museum) that lasted for about one and half hours, the Global Times observed on the spot. 

During his visit to the museum, Orsi toured two permanent galleries: the Ancient Chinese Bronze gallery and the Ancient Chinese Ceramics gallery, Chu Xiaobo, director of the Shanghai Museum, told the Global Times on Friday. 

He marveled at the exquisite craftsmanship of bronze casting from the Shang (1600BC-1046BC) and Zhou dynasties (1046BC-771BC).

This might be related to the fact that he used to be a history professor as showed on Uruguay's official website.

Before leaving, President Orsi wrote on the museum's guest book: "El árbol crece si las raíces son fuertes" (A tree grows if its roots are strong), symbolizing the deep-rooted foundation for the sustained development of cultural exchanges between Uruguay and China.

Orsi began a week-long state visit to China on February 1 and Shanghai is the second stop of his visit, after the city of Beijing. He will leave China on Saturday. He is the first leader from Latin America to visit China in 2026, according to the Xinhua News Agency.