Colombian Minister of Foreign Affairs Luis Gilberto Murillo, currently on a visit to China, highlighted growing exports to and investments from China as key to mutually beneficial trade relations.
In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Murillo said cooperation between China and his country presents broad prospects.
"The relationship between China and Colombia is very important, because China has a very significant market. We need to enter more markets, and at the same time, we need investment. We need investment in areas such as education and healthcare. We also require a lot of resources. We need cooperation partners like China that can support us. China has a strong ability to mobilize resources and can invest in sectors that Colombia and other Latin American countries need," said the Colombian foreign minister.
Murillo is on a visit to China from October 9 to 12 at the invitation of Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and China's Minister of Foreign Affairs.
During his stay in China, Murillo is scheduled to meet with various Chinese officials, focusing on topics including energy transition, infrastructure cooperation and Colombia's participation in the Belt and Road Initiative.
Colombian FM highlights two-way investment, trade relations with China
Colombian FM highlights two-way investment, trade relations with China
Geomagnetic storms are expected to occur in the next two days following a series of intense solar flares, according to China's National Center for Space Weather on Thursday.
Geomagnetic storms are global disturbances in the Earth's magnetic field caused by solar activity. They primarily affect areas such as aerospace, shortwave communication, and power systems.
A total of five solar flares were observed between 08:00 on Tuesday and 08:00 on Thursday (Beijing time), two of which reached the level of X-class. Solar flares are rated based on their strength, with A-class being the weakest, followed by B, C, M and X as the most potent.
Accompanying the solar flares, the Sun also experienced coronal mass ejections (CMEs), meaning large expulsions of plasma from the sun's outermost layer. As a result, geomagnetic storms are expected to occur on Earth on Friday and Saturday.
Colorful auroras will be observable in the two days, but the storms are not likely to present danger, the center said.
"The Earth's atmosphere acts like a 'shield,' protecting us from X-rays and high-energy particles. When these particles reach the outer layers of the Earth's atmosphere, they are absorbed or blocked, meaning they generally do not affect human health on the ground," said Song Qiao, chief forecaster of the China's National Center for Space Weather, China Meteorological Administration.
Intense geomagnetic activities can affect the migration and navigation abilities of animals. Homing pigeons, which rely on solar and geomagnetic navigation, are particularly impacted, according to the center.
China's space weather center forecasts geomagnetic storms
