Foreign ministers from China, Latin America and Caribbean countries met via video conference on COVID-19 recovery on July 23, 2020. /China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Thursday that China is willing to fund public health projects in Latin American and Caribbean countries and keep trading with the region as part of efforts to jointly meet the challenges in the post-COVID-19 era.
Wang said the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented and will have long-lasting effects. And both China and countries in Latin America face common challenges and urgent tasks when it comes to fighting the pandemic, stabilizing their economies and safeguarding jobs and people's livelihood.
China is ready to build consensus with Latin American and Caribbean countries in strengthening unity and deepening cooperation to jointly defend global public health and boost global economic recovery, Wang said during a special video conference between the foreign ministers of China and Latin American and Caribbean countries.
Wang made five proposals regarding cooperation in the post-COVID-19 era.
Adhering to the people-centric approach, Wang said China is willing to send medical teams to these countries and strengthen cooperation in vaccine research, and China will fund public health projects in these countries with money from the Special Loan Program for China-Latin America Infrastructure.
The loan, set up in 2018, offers a total credit of 20 billion U.S. dollars and is operated by China Development Bank.
In order to boost economic revival, Wang said China will continue to push for trade and investment with countries in the region, import goods and products and make plans with relevant countries to set up "fast track" to facilitate travelling.
Thirdly, Wang said China hopes to push forward cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, in sectors such as infrastructure, energy, agriculture, public health and digital economy.
Wang also said China wants to strengthen cooperation with Latin American and Caribbean countries under the mechanism, and China hopes to work with other countries to enhance global governance.
Foreign ministers from these countries echoed Wang's proposals, saying international society should strengthen cooperation in order to deal with the challenges posed by the pandemic.
Countries should reject the politicizing the issue and support the role of World Health Organization, they said.
They said their countries support an open and non-discriminatory international trading system.
Latin American and Caribbean countries are willing to build long-term relations with China and are ready to improve the bilateral relations to a new level, they added.
The two sides also released a joint statement after the meeting.
