BEIJING, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Republic of Ecuador is located on the west coast of South America, bordering Colombia on the northeast and Peru on the southeast. The country, with Quito as its capital city, has an area of some 256,000 square km.

    The population of Ecuador is around 14 million people, including several very different ethnic groups in the rainforests and the highlands, each with their own culture and traditions. Spanish is the official language.

    Ecuador became independent in 1830. It is a medium-income country, with about 38.3 percent of the people living below the poverty line.

    The country is rich in natural resources, including petroleum, fish, shrimp, timber and gold. It also has a rich agriculture sector, producing bananas, flowers, coffee, sugar, rice and corn.

    Ecuador has significant petroleum reserves, which have accounted for 40 percent of the country's export earnings and one-third of central government budget revenues in recent years. Principal exports are petroleum, bananas, shrimp, flowers and other primary agricultural products.

    Industry is largely oriented to servicing the domestic market, with some exports to the Andean Common Market.

    Ecuador has placed great emphasis on multilateral approaches to international problems. It is a member of the Untied Nations, the Organization of American States (OAS), and many regional groups, including the Rio Group, the Latin American Energy Organization, the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), and the Community of Andean Nations (CAN). In August 2009, Ecuador assumed the one-year rotational presidency of UNASUR.

    On Jan. 2, 1980, China and Ecuador established diplomatic relations and relations have advanced smoothly since then.

    In 2008, trade volume between China and Ecuador reached 2.383 billion U.S. dollars, up 119.9 percent year-on-year.