QUITO - Ecuador and China signed three cooperation agreements on Tuesday worth 442 million US dollars and obtained credit to buy four warplanes, officials here said.

The agreements were signed during the visit of Jia Qinglin, chair of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, who met with President Rafael Correa as part of a tour of Latin America.

According to Correa's office, the economic and technical cooperation agreements include a 1.4 million US dollar donation, as well as two lines of credit - one for 2.9 million US dollars payable within ten years, and another for 438 million US dollars to buy the four Chinese military planes, destined for Ecuador's Air Force.

Beijing's direct investment in Ecuador has reached 2.2 billion US dollars, making it one of the top targets of Chinese investment in Latin America, Qinglin told reporters through an interpreter.

Trade between the two countries reached 2.4 billion US dollars in 2008, a 50 percent jump compared to the previous year, he said.

Meanwhile some 300 Chinese investors and business people are set to meet in Bogota Wednesday and Thursday with their counterparts from eight Latin American countries in a bid to drum up business.

The event, the third of its kind, seeks to "promote Chinese investment in Latin America, identify Latin American products they may be interested in importing, and those that we want to buy," said Alejandro Ossa, a Colombian trade official.

Latin American exports to China reached 68.6 billion US dollars in 2008, according to official figures, a 42 percent increase over 2007.

China's main imports from the region include iron, soy beans, oil and other minerals.