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By Daniela Polo Quito — Some 400 Chinese importers, investors and representatives of tourism agencies have confirmed that they will attend the Colombia-China Economic and Trade Forum later this week in Beijing and Shanghai, officials said Sunday.

The Colombian government is organizing the business event, which will take place July 30 and July 31 in the two Chinese cities.

The business forum in China will coincide with President Ivan Duque’s state visit, which started on Sunday and is aimed at boosting bilateral trade.

Duque is being accompanied on his visit to China by Trade, Industry and Tourism Minister Juan Manuel Restrepo; Transportation Minister Angela Maria Orozco; Agriculture Minister Andres Valencia; Foreign Minister Carlos Holmes Trujillo; and ProColombia trade promotion agency president Flavia Santoro.

“We’re going with the goal of leveraging new opportunities that will allow us to increase Colombian exports to a key market, like China’s, which takes 11 percent of global imports annually and which Colombia can offer products like food and ready-to-wear clothing,” Santoro said in a statement.

ProColombia has identified export opportunities in the flower; processed and exotic fruits; pork; coffee; underwear; swimwear; and natural cosmetics sectors, among others.

Colombia also wants to “attract more tourists and investors” from China since the Asian nation invests about $124 billion annually and its business leaders have expressed “great interest in Colombia, especially in sectors like infrastructure, energy and telecommunications,” Santoro said.

China has a population that exceeds 1.3 billion and a government that seeks to adjust its balance of trade position by increasing imports.

The Asian giant also boasts rising consumer spending and a growing middle class.

In 2018, Colombia’s exports to China outside the mining-energy category totaled $260.7 million, up 18.4 percent from 2017, the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE) said.

Last year, according to the Bank of the Republic of Colombia, Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) totaled $32.2 million, an increase of just 0.30 percent compared to 2017.

During 2018, Colombia welcomed 15,656 travelers from China, a figure that was up 8 percent from the prior year.

Duque is in Shanghai, where he will stay until Tuesday, when he is scheduled to travel to Beijing.

“We’re very happy to start this visit to China. We came to open up the market to Colombian exports. We want to open the market for meat and increase imports (by China) of coffee, bananas, of Hass avocados,” the president told reporters. EFE