Nov. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Colombia's government, unable to attain a free-trade agreement with the U.S., signed a bilateral investment treaty with China, granting most favored nation status to each other's companies.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, speaking today at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Lima, said he wants to ``deepen immensely relations with China and its government,'' according to an e-mailed transcript sent by his office.

Colombia, after lobbying unsuccessfully for the U.S. Congress to approve a free-trade agreement reached in February 2006, is broadening its trade agenda to catch up with regional neighbors that have been rushing to embrace Asia. Echoing Democratic lawmakers' concerns over Colombia's human-rights record, President-elect Barack Obama has said he opposes a trade accord with the U.S. ally in the fight against drugs.

``The single-minded obsession with the U.S. trade deal has taken its toll on Colombia's broader trade agenda,'' Michael Shifter, vice president of the Washington-based think tank Inter- American Dialogue, said in an interview. ``They haven't read the tea leaves right about the changing economic balance in the world or the growth of anti-trade sentiment in the United States.''

Uribe came to Lima invited by Peruvian President Alan Garcia to push for a lifting of a moratorium on new membership that would allow them to join Mexico, Peru and Chile as a member of APEC. Peru this week followed Chile in signing a free-trade agreement with China. Both already have accords with Singapore and Thailand, as well as the U.S.

12.5% Tariffs

Colombia's economy is one of the most closed in Latin America, with average tariffs of 12.5 percent, more than double those of Chile, according to World Trade Organization data. Yesterday, it signed a free-trade agreement with Canada, extending to 13 the number of countries it has reached accords with. By contrast, Guatemala, whose economy is one-fifth the size, has agreements with 23 countries and Chile with 44, according to Colombian trade ministry statistics.

Democrats in Congress earlier this year delayed a vote on the trade accord with Colombia, denying Uribe a chance at his most significant foreign policy victory. Uribe said he would continue to pursue the U.S. accord ``with urgency and patience.''

``I come here to ask that you intervene before your American friends so that the U.S. votes on the trade agreement,'' Uribe said in a separate speech today to applauding business leaders. ``We need to hear the same noise in the U.S. House of Representatives.''

Concerns About Violence

The U.S.-Colombia agreement, which would be Washington's biggest in the Western Hemisphere since the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994, has languished over Democrats' concerns that Uribe isn't doing enough to stamp out violence against labor organizers. The U.S. is Colombia's biggest trading partner and source of over $700 million in annual anti-narcotics aid.

The agreement with China, announced last month, puts investors from each country on a level footing with national companies, banning expropriation without fair compensation and providing for international arbitration in case of commercial disputes.