The President of the Republic of Costa Rica Laura Chinchilla and the Vice Premier of China Zhang Gaoli met last Friday to celebrate five years of bilateral relations. That meeting also saw the signing of an agreement between the nations to seek funding for a joint oil refinery project.

Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Carlos Roverssi told journalists in a news conference that the meeting served to reinforce the existing link between the two countries, and to assess the possibility of attracting more investment and cooperation from the People’s Republic of China to Costa Rica.

Minister of Communication Francisco Chacon mentioned that President Laura Chinchilla vowed to strengthen ties with China and called attention to the establishment of diplomatic relations back in 2007, an event she referred to as one of the most important decisions in the diplomatic field in recent years.

The Chinese delegation of 20 members did not provide statements to the press. The group was led by Zhang Gaoli, who is a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party Central Committee in China.

As part of the visit, the Chinese delegation signed a memorandum of understanding between the state Costa Rican Oil Refinery (RECOPE in Spanish), the Chinese Development Bank (CDB) and the state petroleum entity of China to seek funding for a joint refinery.

The document was signed by the executive director of RECOPE, Jorge Rojas, the delegate of the CBD, Guo Lin, and the representative of the China’s government refinery, Wu Yam.

The memorandum serves to reaffirm their commitment to the refinery construction project, which will be located in the province of Limon, on the Caribbean region of Costa Rica. The project will cost about $1.2 billion.

Both Costa Rica and China agreed to ask the CBD for financing between $800 and $900 million dollars, for which they will submit a series of technical and financial requirements in the coming months.

The remaining $340 or $ 440 million will be contributed equally by RECOPE and the Chinese state oil company.

According to RECOPE, the new refinery will save Costa Rica between $200 and $300 million in annual oil expenditures, and will expand the Moin refinery capacity in Moin.