In February 2022, China and Ecuador issued a joint statement announcing the launch of free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations. After more than 10 months, the two countries concluded the bilateral FTA negotiations at the technical level. The Global Times (GT) reporter Liu Yang recently conducted an exclusive interview with Chen Guoyou (Chen), Chinese Ambassador to Ecuador, in which the ambassador shared his views on the China-Ecuador FTA and future cooperation, refuting foreign media outlet s smear against a local project under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).