By+staff+reporter+PEDRO+LAGO

COLOMBIAN to the core， Carmenza Jaramillo became the first Latin American woman to serve as an ambassador to China， two decades after her post as consul general of Colombia in Hong Kong. With her usual ease， she talked to China Today about the current state of relations between the two countries.

China Today： At your investiture as ambassador to China， Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said，“For us， China is a strategic country.” Why is this so？

Carmenza Jaramillo： President Santos has always considered Asia to be a strategic region for Colombia. He was the first Colombian Minister of Commerce when he came to Asia in 1992 with the first mission of Colombian businessmen to travel to Japan and Hong Kong. Since assuming presidency of the Republic， he has paid official visits to China， South Korea and Central Asia. In addition， Colombia has begun proceedings to become a member of APEC （Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation） and ASEAN （Association of Southeast Asian Nations）. In all respects， for this government， Asia is a focal point for the development of foreign relations. But we also have to position ourselves correctly， that is to say， China needs to get to know Colombia.

China Today： Colombia was chosen as the best tourist destination for the Chinese in a contest hosted by National Geographic Traveler magazine， beating 24 nations across America， Asia， Europe and Oceania. According to Colombian migration authorities， the flow of travelers from China to your country increased following the nomination. Currently， how many Chinese tourists visit Colombia and what are the Colombian perspectives on this？

Carmenza Jaramillo： For two years I was in charge of the government agency “ProExport” in the United States， and within that framework we studied the behavior of Chinese tourists outside of Asia. Its estimated that between 200 and 300 million Chinese nationals have the financial means to travel overseas. Nowadays， the Chinese are not only traveling to Hong Kong， Australia and Thailand for tourism but are also looking to Europe and Latin America. When considering behavior patterns， it must be from the perspective that the Chinese do not only travel to one country. We are part of the Pacific Alliance and as such， we hope that the Chinese will consider multi-destination trips to Latin America， combining a visit to Colombia with two or three other countries such as Peru， Ecuador， Chile and Mexico. Our region offers favorable weather， natural beauty and culture. The number of tourists to Colombia has doubled from 4，000 to 8，000 in the past four years. This may seem scant， but the statistic is qualitatively significant because now the Chinese are considering Colombia as a holiday destination. We hope this trend will gain momentum.

China Today： Recently， the Spanish in Colombia program was launched in Beijing and a large delegation representing several Colombian universities participated in the 2013 China Education Expo. How would you assess the development of academic exchanges between the two countries？

Carmenza Jaramillo： We have signed an educative cooperation agreement with China that states that every school year， an average of 20 Chinese students can travel to Colombia in order to learn Spanish for free. By bring-ing representatives of our universities to China， we hope to encourage their Chinese counterparts to send students to Colombia， not only to improve or to learn Spanish， but also to teach Mandarin. Theres a large Colombian community living in China who are learning Mandarin and teaching Spanish. For the first time， we participated in this educational exhibition to show what Colombian universities could offer Chinese students.

China Today： On November 9， 2013， the ChinaColombia International Poetry Summit “A Dragon in the Valley of Poetry” was held in Medellín. What other cultural collaborations between the two countries have been particularly successful？ What cultural activities are planned for 2014？

Carmenza Jaramillo： First of all， understanding culture is integral to education and education leads to trade. One of my goals is to sow the seeds of Colombia， so people begin to recognize what Colombia stands for. Colombia is fauna， coffee， emeralds， Spanish， generosity and salsa. Based on all that， in 2013， we brought the dance group Delirio to China； we organized a film festival and had the opportunity to invite Harold Trompetero， a producer who is in vogue right now； we were able to bring over a great writer， Santiago Gamboa， to lecture at eight universities. These cultural ambassadors introduced Colombian music， tradition， films and the Spanish language to China. Knowing the Chinese peoples fondness for salsa dancing combined with the acrobatic way of Chinese dancing， we plan to bring another salsa group over. One of the things were thinking about is establishing a salsa school here. We plan to increase the visits of Colombian writers to show that we have a large pool of writers who want to share their experiences， and the China Writers Association is ready to receive them. We hope to introduce new films and young filmmakers. We would like to continue uncovering Colombia for China. We need the Chinese to get to know us， so they can help us with what we need to do to construct a more positive image of our country， beyond the stigmas and stereotypes. Colombia has changed for the better.

China Today： According to some media reports， in September 2013， the China-Colombia Study Group met for the first time to negotiate a free trade agreement. What is the current state of negotiations？

Carmenza Jaramillo： When President Santos came to China in May 2012， he talked with his Chinese counterpart， Hu Jintao， about the prospect of a free trade agreement. While talks have already been initiated， the first meeting of the feasibility study – the one reported to have taken place in September 2013 – hasnt been held yet due to circumstances beyond the control of the two govern- ments. I， personally， believe that a free trade agreement cannot be signed in two years. It takes a long time because there are many issues and implications to be solved. We hope that once the feasibility study is completed， we can analyze the chances of a free trade agreement. However， the current halt in proceedings does not stop us from promoting our products. We would like Colombia to become an exporting base for China to reach other South American countries. China is Colombias second largest trading partner， and a very important source of foreign investment； but we would also like to expand our export range， from the mining and oil industry to other options such as meat， milk， liquor and confectionery.

China Today： How do you evaluate the current state of relations between China and Colombia？

Carmenza Jaramillo： I think we are in the prime of our relationship. Sino-Colombian ties are now 33 years old； however， I would say that for the first time， we are getting to know each other better because there is now a common interest， and also due to the fact that Colombians are more motivated to learn the Chinese language. When you master a foreign language， you uncover the essence of the people and the country where the language is spoken. There are many Chinese who want to travel to Colombia to learn Spanish in order to access Colombian culture. There are also many graduates who want to go there for postgraduate study. China is experiencing a number of world-scale changes in the sense that it has become the top or second largest trading partner for several countries. So its also necessary for Colombians to come here to witness what is happening in this nation. Here， one has to create relationships and earn trust so new networks will grow， whether educational， commercial or cultural. This is the best moment to do this； we have started to look at our partnership differently and are more earnest in collaboration to achieve common goals. We are sowing the seeds of Colombia in China to harvest the fruits in the coming years.