China has sought to strengthen its bilateral ties with Colombia by initiating talks on free trade agreement during Foreign Minister Wang Yì's visit to the Latin American country.

Beijing is seeking to increase its influence in Colombia through increasing investment and trade ties.

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Wang said on Saturday that China would maintain close communication with Colombian officials to start a comprehensive dialogue on a free trade agreement as soon as possible.

China has already signed free trade pacts with a few South American countries including Peru, Chile and Costa Rica. Experts say that by bolstering trade and investment with South American nations, China is trying to become a big diplomatic player in the region, where the United States enjoys huge influence.

Meanwhile, Wang lent support to Colombia's on-going peace process with Marxist rebels. The five decades of continuous civil war has killed nearly 220,000 people and left at least 7 million people homeless.

"China upholds that all hot button issues in the end should be resolved via peaceful negotiations. Force cannot resolve problems, only bring more harm and even hate," Wang said, according to a statement issued by China's Foreign Ministry.

Meanwhile, Wang also congratulated Juan Manuel Santos for winning this year's Noble Peace Prize. Santos spent years in brokering peace with FARC rebels. However, the peace deal was rejected by Colombian voters five days before the Noble committee selected Santos for the Noble prize.  

Tagschina, China and Colombia, Colombia, Wáng Yì's visit to Colombia