First China-LatAm ministerial forum to usher in new era of ties

Only six months after world media outlets spotlighted the extensive activities by Chinese President Xi Jinping during a Latin American tour, they will be drawn to another milestone in China-Latin America relations.

The first ministerial forum of China and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), set to open on Jan. 8, will mark the start of a new era in ties featuring a new level of comprehensive cooperation between the two sides.

Latin America is now one of the most vibrant regions in terms of economic development, and its role on the world political stage has also become much more prominent.

This makes Latin America a perfect partner for China, as they share similar aspirations to raise the profile of emerging economies and that of the developing countries on a global scale.

Over the past decade, trade between China and Latin America has maintained a formidable annual growth rate of 30 percent and trade volume between the two sides increased 20 folds to 261.6 billion U.S. dollars from 2002 to 2013.

Cooperation between the two sides has also covered a broader range of fields including technology, education, infrastructure, finance and investment.

However, dialogues and cooperation between the two sides have been mostly conducted via bilateral channels, and that could prove less efficient at a time when cross-region cooperation calls for a more comprehensive mechanism.

Against this backdrop, the ministerial forum, whose origin also traces back to Xi's Latin America tour in July, embodies an instrumental upgrade in China-Latin America relations.

Commenting on the upcoming gathering of Latin American leaders, ministers with their Chinese counterparts in Beijing, Chinese Ambassador to Brazil Li Jinzhang said setting in motion a collective cooperation mechanism is a certain choice for the two sides as it follows the trend of the times featuring cross-region cooperation in a multi-polar world.

Via this brand-new platform, China and Latin American countries could better explore cooperation potentials, enhance economic collaboration and achieve common development, Li said, adding that the two sides could also exchange experience in governance, coordinate stances on major international and regional issues, and jointly safeguard common interests on the world stage through the new mechanism.

Meanwhile, the Latin American side has also pinned high hopes for the future development of China-Latin America ties. Former Bolivian President Jorge Fernando Quirog said China's economic growth has also injected new vitality into Latin American economies when a large number of nations are still grappling with the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis, and China's success story also inspires Latin American countries to get rid of the crisis at an early date and advance social development.

Conducting cooperation via a collective mechanism undoubtedly meets the desire of both China and Latin America. The ministerial forum, as the first step toward the full establishment of a China-Latin America collective cooperation mechanism, will brighten the prospects for China-Latin America cooperation.