China ready to work with Bolivia for more fruitful ties: Xi

Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Brasilia on Wednesday with his Bolivian counterpart Evo Morales and the two agreed to work together to further boost bilateral cooperation. [Special coverage]

During Morales' successful visit to China last December, noted Xi, he and the Bolivian leader held in-depth discussions on the future development of bilateral ties.

The relationship between China and Bolivia is developing in good shape and their cooperation has reaped fruitful results, said Xi, adding that China is willing to join hands with Bolivia to bring their relations to a higher level.

Xi urged the two countries to maintain high-level exchanges and expand cooperation among political parties, legislatures and localities so as to consolidate the political foundation for their long-standing friendship.

On the economic front, Xi said bilateral trade has been growing rapidly with smooth progress being made in major cooperation projects, noting that the first communications satellite developed and launched by China has been handed over in-orbit to the Bolivian side and is functioning well.

The two countries, said Xi, should continue to explore potential and expand cooperation in such fields as trade, energy, mining and infrastructure development. Meanwhile, he called on the two sides to increase people-to-people exchanges and promote mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples.

On a larger scale, the Chinese president said China is willing to maintain close communication and coordination with Bolivia in multilateral mechanisms such as the United Nation and the Group of 77 Plus China (G77+China).

For his part, Morales said the Bolivia and China have enjoyed smooth development of bilateral relations and sound cooperation in various fields such as trade, investment, and technology transfer.

He said his country hopes to expand cooperation with China in more fields including infrastructure development and satellites, and improve financing arrangements in a bid to facilitate more cooperative projects.

Bolivia attaches great importance to its cooperation with the BRICS countries and welcomes the establishment of the BRICS development bank, said Morales, adding that his country is willing to work with the BRICS nations to jointly safeguard the rights of developing countries.

Speaking highly of Bolivia's role in promoting China-Latin America relations, Xi voiced his belief that China and Latin America will seize the opportunity of the upcoming meeting between their leaders and make use of the upcoming China-CELAC forum to push forward their relationship to a higher level and make it a paradigm of South-South cooperation.

Morales said Bolivia supports the development of Latin America-China relations, and stands ready to join hands with China to build the China-CELAC forum.

The Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), established in December 2011 in Caracas, capital of Venezuela, comprises 33 countries of the western hemisphere.

Xi is currently on a state visit to Brazil, where he also attended the Sixth BRICS summit. Brazil is the first leg of Xi's ongoing Latin America tour, which will also take him to Argentina, Venezuela and Cuba.