Costa Rica gives China a foothold
24/08/2007
China has opened an embassy in Central America for the first time. An official opening ceremony took place in San José, Costa Rica, yesterday. At the same time, Chinese business representatives agreed $140 million worth of trade, with local leather and leathergoods among the principal Costa Rican products they were interested in.
Official relations with China have been problematic in Central America because the countries of the region have tended to give official recognition to Taiwan.
In Costa Rica's case, the new Chinese embassy was the Taiwanese embassy until this summer.
