Montevideo, August 6th—Uruguayan President Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou met here today with Liu Jianchao, Minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee. 

Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou welcomed Liu and the CPC delegation. He said, since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Uruguay and China, the two sides have understood and supported each other, and bilateral relations have maintained sustained and stable development without being affected by changes in the internal and external situations of each side. Last year, I led a delegation to visit China and achieved fruitful results. I am proud of the fact that President Xi Jinping and I have jointly upgraded Uruguay-China relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership. Despite of different political positions, political parties of Uruguay all attach importance to relations with China and are committed to promoting cooperation between Uruguay and China in various fields, no matter which party is in power. The Uruguayan side firmly adheres to the one-China principle and hopes to promote free trade cooperation with the Chinese side. At the same time, it will play the role of the rotating presidency of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) and help the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) march towards this goal. 

Liu said, President Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou and President Xi Jinping jointly announced the establishment of China-Uruguay comprehensive strategic partnership, charting the course for the future development of bilateral relations. The Chinese side is willing to work with the Uruguayan side to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, continue to firmly support each other on issues involving respective core interests and major concerns, consolidate the foundation of political mutual trust, further strengthen integration of development strategies, promote practical cooperation in various fields, and push China-Uruguay relations to a new level. China and Uruguay share similar positions on many international and regional issues and broad common interests. The Chinese side supports Uruguay in playing the role of the rotating presidency of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) and is ready to strengthen coordination and cooperation with the Uruguayan side in international and regional affairs to promote greater development of relations between China and Latin American and Caribbean countries. Calling inter-party exchanges an important part of China-Uruguay relations, Liu said the CPC is willing to maintain close exchanges with all Uruguayan political parties and deepen exchanges and mutual learning of experience in state governance and administration. Liu also introduced relevant situation of the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee. 

The two sides also exchanged views on international and regional issues of common concern. 

Omar Paganini, Uruguayan Foreign Minister, was present.