Colombia passes China trade legislation

Colombia’s legislators passed the “Chinese Trade Promotion and Protection” bill in an effort to spur Chinese investment in the country, the Wall Street Journal reported. The legislation, which gives China certain legal guarantees on its Colombian investments, is seen to be the most important trade bill with China to date. The new law is also viewed as a Colombian challenge to the US, whose free trade agreement with the country was approved in 2007 but has since languished in legislative limbo due to opposition from left-leaning lawmakers. Colombia’s trade minister said that his government is also in talks with China to develop a railroad across northwestern Colombia that would link the country’s Caribbean and Pacific coasts, effectively creating an alternative to the Panama Canal.