Mexico City, May 12 (Xinhua) — China and Latin America join hands to paint a beautiful decade together
Hand in hand, the political mutual trust between China and Latin America continues to deepen. In recent years, high-level interactions and strategic communication between China and Latin America have been maintained. China Latin America relations have undergone the test of international turbulence and have entered a new stage of equality, mutual benefit, innovation, openness, and benefiting the people. In recent years, countries such as Panama, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Honduras have successively established or restored diplomatic relations with China. China’s relations with countries in the region have been upgraded in quality. China’s relations with Brazil have been positioned as a community of shared future for building a more just world and a more sustainable planet. China’s relations with Venezuela have been upgraded to an all-weather strategic partnership, its relations with Uruguay have been upgraded to a comprehensive strategic partnership, and strategic partnerships have been established with Colombia and Nicaragua. The global development initiative, global security initiative, and global civilization initiative proposed by China are increasingly recognized by more Latin American countries.
Mutually beneficial and win-win, China Latin America economic and trade cooperation continues to expand. Over the past decade, China Latin America economic and trade cooperation has achieved remarkable results: the trade volume of goods between China and Latin America has continued to rise, and China has maintained its position as the second largest trading partner in Latin America; By the end of 2023, China’s direct investment stock in Latin America reached 600.8 billion US dollars, making Latin America the second largest destination for China’s overseas investment; The “circle of friends” of the joint construction of the “the Belt and Road” in Latin America is expanding. China has signed memorandums of understanding with more than 20 Latin American and Caribbean countries on the joint construction of the “the Belt and Road”. A number of landmark major projects are steadily advancing and cooperation potential is constantly releasing. As of November last year, China has five free trade partners in Latin America, signed early harvest arrangements for free trade agreements with Honduras, and substantially completed negotiations on upgrading free trade agreements with Peru. With the continuous release of the dividends of free trade, the economic and trade cooperation between China and Latin America shows a broader prospect. China has been the largest exporter of Chilean cherries for seven consecutive years, with over 90% of Chilean cherries sold to China; In Ecuador, for every 100 cars sold, 37 come from China.
Moving towards a new direction, the improvement of China Latin America cooperation has demonstrated its effectiveness. Under the framework of the China Latin America Forum, activities such as the China Latin America Science and Technology Innovation Forum, China Latin America Digital Technology Cooperation Forum, and China Latin America Aerospace Cooperation Forum have been successfully held. The economic and trade cooperation between China and Latin America continues to expand from traditional fields to new energy, digital technology, cross-border e-commerce and other fields, constantly releasing new vitality. At the same time, China and Latin America jointly built the “the Belt and Road” to a new level of high-level cooperation. In Trinidad and Tobago, the Phoenix Industrial Park, the flagship project of the “the Belt and Road”, has become the first environmental light industrial park in Latin America with full coverage of the 5G network, promoting the upgrading of local industries; On the streets of big cities such as Colombia, Bogota, and Medellin, an increasing number of Chinese brand electric taxis have become a new landscape for urban green transportation; China’s cloud computing, big data, and artificial intelligence technologies are widely empowering industries such as finance, education, culture, and entertainment in Latin America, assisting local enterprises in their digital transformation.
Open and inclusive, the development achievements of China and Latin America benefit the people. China provides scholarships and training opportunities to member states of the Latin American Community, implements “Small and Beautiful” livelihood cooperation projects in the local area, and sets up Confucius Institutes or Confucius Classrooms in more than 20 Latin American countries. Luban Workshop and Chinese Workshop have strengthened cooperation between China and Latin America in the field of vocational education. The cultural exchange activities such as the “China Latin America Cultural Exchange Year” and the “Bridge of the Future” China Latin America Youth Leaders Training and Exchange Camp continue to be carried out, promoting mutual learning of civilizations and people to people exchanges between China and Latin America. Recently, the new Line 1 of the Mexico City subway held a partial opening ceremony, with Chinese companies helping to comprehensively upgrade the system equipment and improve the commuting experience of citizens, becoming a microcosm of China Latin America cooperation benefiting the public.
Embracing challenges together, China and Latin America emit a strong voice of the global southern era. Currently, the changes in the world, history, and era are unfolding in unprecedented ways, with a significant increase in global uncertainty, instability, and unpredictability. As true practitioners of multilateralism, China and Latin America maintain good communication and cooperation on global issues. Last May, China and Brazil jointly issued a “six point consensus” on the political resolution of the Ukrainian crisis, which received widespread support and response. In January of this year, Bolivia, Cuba and other countries became BRICS partners, and cooperation among countries in the global South is increasingly becoming a new trend of the times. Recently, in the face of unilateralism, protectionism, and bullying, China has decisively taken strong countermeasures, and its just actions have won widespread support from developing countries including Latin American countries. The 9th Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States adopted the Tegucigalpa Declaration, calling for common development through solidarity and cooperation, reflecting the collective call of the global South to promote global governance reform.
Ten years of wind and rain, ten years of spring and autumn harvest. Standing at a new historical starting point, the China Latin America relations in the new era have ushered in broader development prospects. As an important platform for gathering friendly forces between China and Latin America, the China Latin America Forum will further promote the deepening and implementation of China Latin America cooperation, inject stability and positive energy into the turbulent world, promote the stable and far-reaching construction of a community of shared future between China and Latin America, and open the next beautiful decade for China Latin America relations.