Nicolas Potrie, president of the Uruguay-China Chamber of Commerce, highlighted growing cooperation in innovation and technology as President of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay Yamandu Orsi is on a seven-day state visit to China with a high-level business delegation.
Invited by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Orsi is in China until February 7, leading discussions aimed at deepening bilateral ties.
In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Potrie emphasized that China is Uruguay's largest trading partner and a vital destination for its exports, underscoring the strength of the existing trade relationship.
"The main partner of Uruguay in goods is China. All our exportation mainly are agri-business products. We are talking about 25 percent of the exports of Uruguay come here to China. But also we import a lot from China. So the complementary of the economies is really very important. The actual relation between both countries is really very deep, very good, and the economies are very complementary to each other," he said.
Potrie said President Orsi's visit to China is expected to broaden bilateral cooperation beyond agriculture, opening new avenues in innovation, technology, and logistics.
"Comparing with other visits, because we should remember that all presidents of Uruguay since democracy till now came to visit China, but usually came only with the agri-business sector. And this particular mission has different sectors like innovations, new technologies, also logistic services, all new sectors that China is really very good and we can cooperate very much in these new areas," he said.
China, Uruguay eye deeper cooperation in trade, new sectors: executive
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has ordered the start of negotiations with the United States within the framework of the nuclear issue, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported Monday, citing an unnamed government source.
Fars, quoting Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei's remarks earlier in the day as saying, added that talks between Iran and the United States will probably be held in Türkiye in the next few days.
Meanwhile, Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency, quoting an unidentified informed source, also confirmed that senior officials from the two sides will probably begin negotiations in the coming days.
The negotiations will probably be held between Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi and U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff, Tasnim reported, adding that the venue and exact date of the negotiations have not been finalized yet.
The developments come as tensions between Tehran and Washington remain high amid increased U.S. military activity in the Middle East. Trump's administration deployed an aircraft carrier strike group and multiple warships to the Middle East in late January.
On Sunday, Trump said if Tehran fails to strike a nuclear deal with Washington, "we will find out" whether Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was right to warn that a U.S. attack could ignite a regional war.
In an interview with a U.S. media outlet on Sunday, Araghchi said that a "just, fair, and equitable" nuclear agreement with the United States remains achievable in the short term, provided Washington abandons its policy of coercion.
Earlier on Monday, Baghaei told a weekly press conference in Tehran that Iran is reviewing the details and general outlines of the potential initiation of negotiations with the United States.
Iranian president orders start of talks with U.S. on nuke profile: local media
