SAN SALVADOR - El Salvador on Tuesday defended its "sovereign and independent" right to establish diplomatic ties with China.

The Central American country could not continue to turn "its back on the world" by failing to recognize China's role as a global player, Salvadoran President Salvador Sanchez Ceren's press secretary Roberto Lorenzana told reporters.

"We cannot ignore that China is the world's second power and the leading export economy on the planet," said Lorenzana.

"We should instead be asking ourselves why we didn't do it sooner. How much has El Salvador lost by not having a relationship with an economic giant like China," he added.

"The enormous opportunities that open up for an economy like ours in a market of that magnitude is impressive from a scientific and technical point of view," Lorenzana said.

"We must bet on this type of relationship," he added.

China and El Salvador signed a joint communique in Beijing Tuesday on the establishment of diplomatic relations.

As part of the communique, El Salvador "recognizes that there is but one China in the world," as 177 other countries do, said Lorenzana, "and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory."

Ties with China stand to help boost El Salvador's economic and technological capacities, as well as educational level, he said.