China-Panama ties at a glance

President Xi Jinping will start his state visit to Panama at the invitation of Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela. This is the first state visit ever to the country made by a Chinese president.

Political ties

June 13, 2017 - establishment of diplomatic ties

China and Panama signed a joint communique on the establishment of diplomatic relations on June 13, 2017.

According to the communique, the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Panama, in keeping with the interests and desire of the two peoples, have decided to recognize each other and establish diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level effective from the date of signature of this communique.

The Government of the Republic of Panama recognizes that there is but one China in the world, that the Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory, it said.

People watch fireworks during the celebration of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Panama in Panama City, Panama, on June 12

November 17, 2017 - Panamanian President visits China

President Xi Jinping and his Panamanian counterpart Juan Carlos Varela walk together during a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Nov 17, 2017. [Photo by Feng Yongbin / China Daily]
Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela made his first state visit to China only five months after the establishment of diplomatic relations of the two countries in November of 2017.

The two countries signed 19 cooperation documents covering such areas as finance, agriculture, trade and tourism in a ceremony witnessed by the presidents of the two countries. 

According to statistics from General Administration of Customs, the trade volume between China and Panama reached $6.69 billion in 2017, a 2.8 percent increase over the previous year.

China is the second-largest client of the Panama Canal after the United States. In June 2016, Chinese container ship, the Cosco Shipping Panama, became the first vessel to make the inaugural passage through the newly expanded Panama Canal.[page]

Guests attend a press briefing on Air China's opening of Beijing-Houston-Panama City route in Beijing, on March 22, 2018. [Photo/Xinhua] 

A new flight between Beijing and Panama City, via Houston, was launched by Air China in March 2018. The new route was announced during Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela's state visit to China on Nov 16-22 last year, and is to operate twice a week.[page]

Students from Huadu district's Qixing Elementary School in Guangdong show off their jump-roping skill during a "storytelling event" in Panama City, Panama, on Nov 22, 2018. [Photo by Liu Yinmeng / Provided to China Daily] 

In 1854, a ship carrying Chinese workers, many from South China's Guangdong province, landed in Panama to work on the Panama Canal Railway.

More than 300,000 people of Chinese descent, or 10 percent of the total population, currently live in Panama, according to the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council, but the Central American country's connection with China goes back to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

It's estimated that around 80 percent of the Chinese residents in Panama hail from Huadu, where some villages are nicknamed "Panama Village" due to the high number of locals who have migrated to Panama.[page]

President of the Republic of Panama Juan Carlos Varela hosts an event to promote the Central American country as a travel destination for Chinese tourists in Shanghai on Nov 8, 2018. [Photo/Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Panama's tourism authority has set up a new Mandarin website and accounts on Weibo and WeChat to engage Chinese tourists, said the country's President Juan Carlos Varela during his visit to Shanghai in early November.

According to senior Panamanian tourism officials, Chinese citizens can enter Panama visa-free as long as they have visas that allow them to enter either of the following regions or countries: Schengen, United States, Canada, Japan and South Korea.

Editor: Wang Huan