Uruguayan Vice President Danilo Astori said in Beijing Friday that Uruguay welcomes more Chinese companies doing business in the country.

He made the remarks at a seminar at the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), the largest institution for the promotion of foreign trade in China. The seminar grouped more than 100 Chinese and Uruguayan entrepreneurs.

Astori said Uruguay’s rapid development, advantageous location, rich natural resources and stable social system made it a gateway for China’s companies to tap into South America’s markets.

According to a forecast last month by the Economic Commission of Latin America and the Caribbean, Uruguay’s economy is expected to grow 7 percent this year.

He said the country’s logistics industry had great potential for development, as it had become Uruguay’s fastest developing sector.

Astori started a weeklong visit to China on Aug. 22, accompanied by officials from industry, transport and banking departments, and an 18-member delegation of entrepreneurs.

Two-way trade hit 867 million U.S. dollars in the first half of this year, up 61.7 percent over the same period last year, according to the CCPIT.

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