China’s Xi promotes ‘equal, multipolar world’ in talks with Uruguay’s president

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi in Beijing, marking a significant diplomatic event aimed at building an equal and orderly multipolar world.

The prime goal of the meeting was to encourage China and Uruguay to work together to advance an equal and orderly multipolar world and inclusive, universally beneficial economic globalization. In his remarks, Xi emphasized a “shared future for mankind.”

The visit comes in the aftermath of a flurry of visits to China by Western leaders including Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Finland’s Prime Minister Petteri Orpo.

In line with Orsi’s remarks, he aimed to “empower Uruguay in the world and generate opportunities, investment and development, as he stated in a Facebook post ahead of his visit to Beijing.

According to Francisco Urdinez, a professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, the timing is symbolically important for China, especially given the strategic initiatives to be discussed in the meeting.

China and Uruguay signed twelve cooperation documents on Tuesday to deepen their partnership, covering areas such as science, technology, environmental cooperation, exports and imports of meat and intellectual property.

Conversely, conventional sectors like meat and soy continue to play a key role, others such as dairy have substantial capability for growth, according to said Dr Diego Telias, a professor at the Universidad ORT Uruguay. He further noted that a significant gap remains in the area of service exports.

Xi in Beijing: Where multi-polar messaging meets a functional approach to trade

The prime motive behind the new deal is to advance an “equal and orderly multipolar world”, aligning with China’s broader diplomatic narrative to position Beijing as a counterbalance to US dominance for middle-income countries. For Uruguay, the visit will reflect a pragmatic approach to focus on trade and investment rather than ideological alignment. The meeting underscores how China’s vision of multipolarity is reverberating with countries that prefer strategic flexibility over firm alignment in an increasingly fragmented world.