Ecuador’s Noboa courts China on shrimp, copper without threatening US ties

Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa arrived in Beijing on Sunday for his first state visit to China, an eight-day trip during which he will seek to lift suspensions on 14 Ecuadorian shrimp processors and secure fresh investment in energy and mining.Noboa will hold talks with President Xi Jinping and meet separately with Premier Li Qiang and Zhao Leji, China’s top legislator, according to Beijing’s foreign ministry. The visit runs to August 23 before the Asian tour continues to Singapore and Vietnam until August 28.It is Noboa’s second trip to China since June last year, when he and Xi witnessed the signing of a cooperation plan under the Belt and Road Initiative, which Ecuador joined in 2018. What changes now is protocol: a state visit carries the full ceremonial apparatus, and with it the expectation of deliverables.