Until recently Colombia was one of the US’ closest trade and security partners in Latin America.

But the country’s first leftist president Gustavo Petro, who has crossed swords with his US counterpart Donald Trump, is trying to steer more trade towards China.

China’s ambassador to Bogota denied that Beijing was seeking to topple the US from its pole position in Latin America.

“China is coming to offer our collaboration, not to replace anyone, nor seeking to take someone’s place,” Zhu Jingyang told AFP on the sidelines of a media briefing.

Earlier this month, Colombia formally joined China’s vast Belt and Road (BRI) infrastructure programme.

Bogota’s accession boosted Beijing’s efforts to deepen ties with Latin America, a key battleground in its confrontation with the Trump administration.

It came in the wake of a showdown between Trump and Petro over deportation flights which ended in humiliation for Colombia.

After initially denying entry to US military planes carrying deported Colombians in January, Bogota sent its own planes to bring them home to avoid hefty US tariffs threatened by Trump.

The business community in Latin America’s fourth-biggest economy has expressed fears that Petro’s rapprochement with China could damage Colombia’s trade with the US.

The state department’s special envoy for Latin America, Mauricio Claver-Carone, warned recently that the US might start buying flowers and coffee – two of Colombia’s top exports to the US – from other Latin American countries instead.

Zhu accused the Trump administration of using “intimidation” and “blackmail” to try keep Colombia in its orbit.

Two-thirds of Latin American countries have already joined the Belt and Road Initiative.