Brazil & Southern Cone - March 2026

President Yamandú Orsi made his first state visit to China from 1-7 February during which his official delegation signed various cooperation agreements with Uruguay’s largest trade partner. This marks a continuation of a diplomatic norm in Uruguay, which has maintained smooth relations with Beijing for decades. However, Uruguay must also walk a diplomatic tightrope, given that signs of even closer alignment with China could risk straining relations with the US, which is still among Uruguay’s main trade partners.

Orsi’s visit came around a month after the US military operation on 3 January which resulted in the capture of Venezuela’s former president Nicolás Maduro (2013-2026), an act which Orsi criticised at the time. Orsi’s trip also came as a series of world leaders visited China’s President Xi Jinping in January and February this year, including the British and Canadian prime ministers, Keir Starmer and Mark Carney, as well as Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz, in an effort to reset their relations with Beijing.

In the case of Uruguay, however, Orsi’s visit was less a reset than a reaffirmation of a longstanding relationship. The trip was always expected to happen, so it should not be considered primarily a reaction against US foreign policy under President Donald Trump, but a continuation of Uruguay’s foreign policy norm. In November 2025, China’s vice premier, Ding Xuexiang, travelled to Montevideo, during which time it was reportedly confirmed that Orsi would travel to Beijing to meet with Xi before March 2026, within a year of Orsi’s inauguration.

The meeting with Xi took place on 3 February. The two leaders called for deeper bilateral cooperation on a range of sectors, including agriculture, infrastructure, energy, and technological development, among others. After the meeting, the government ministers in the Uruguayan delegation signed 11 cooperation agreements covering areas such as trade, investment, scientific and research partnerships.

The Uruguayan and Chinese governments also released a joint communiqué on 3 February in which they highlighted their existing bilateral interests, including a reiteration of calls to begin negotiations for a free trade agreement between China and the Mercosur regional trade bloc. This has been a frequent demand of Uruguay, although it has struggled for years to convince the other Mercosur countries to get on board with a China deal, and the rules of the bloc prevent any member country from pursuing unilateral trade talks. Although Uruguay is due to assume the six-month rotating presidency of the bloc in the second half of 2026, it is unclear how it might win over the other members. Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva might be the most amenable to backing Uruguay’s calls for a China deal, but the leaders of the other countries – Argentina, Paraguay, and Bolivia – are more closely aligned with the US than China.  

Other trade partners

Over a quarter (26%) of Uruguay’s exports in 2025 went to China, 15% to Brazil, and 14% to the European Union, while the US accounted for 12% of Uruguayan exports. Exports to Brazil dropped by 15% on the previous year, with a total export value of US$1.96bn in 2025. Meanwhile, exports to the European Union totalled US$1.84bn, up 2% compared to 2024, and exports to the US totalled US$1.55bn, up 30% in annual terms. The significant yearly rise in exports to the US was mainly driven by an increase in the demand for beef, which was Uruguay’s top export to the US.

China trade

Uruguay’s exports to China in 2025 totalled US$3.49bn, up 12% compared to the previous year. As the top destination for Uruguayan products, China accounted for 26% of Uruguay’s total exports last year. Despite the plethora of bilateral cooperation agreements signed in February pledging trade and investment in higher-value sectors such as renewable energy, Uruguay’s main exports to China are raw materials, such as soybeans, cellulose, and beef.