MATURING TIES
Ties between China and Latin America will in fact mature in the medium and long term, Guo Cunhai, a researcher at the Latin American Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said, adding that after decades of rapid development, the relationship will settle into a phase marked by stability and moderation.
The liberalization, commercialization and opening up of regional economies will become the new trend in Latin America. The new governments will focus on diversifying, adjusting economic structures and reducing overreliance on raw materials, he noted.
A mature relationship between the two sides will entail new challenges and opportunities for China, Guo said.
Reaching a new consensus and acting in accordance with international law and market regulations will not only be necessary, but will be the reality of China-Latin America ties in the future, something essential to maintaining the sustainable development of the relationship between the two sides, said Guo.
China is adapting to the change in Latin American economies. Cooperation in productiion capacity will continue to develop as Latin America's industrialization progress and will spur the export of China's stronger production capacity for the benefit of both, he said.
Cooperation in infrastructure building will be a new and important area for the future of bilateral ties, he said.
COMPLEMENTARY ADVANTAGES
As global economic recovery remains slow, China and Latin America need to expand their cooperation strategy, intensify their economic complementarity and seek a new engine for future growth, said Yin Hengmin, the special representative on Latin American affairs of the Chinese government.
"China has always insisted on linking its own development to that of other developing countries, and Latin America, in turn, has made an effort to spur the modernization of its economic structure," said Yin.
"The two sides should -- with cooperation in production capacity as a turning point -- improve the quality of pragmatic cooperation and make the most of the complementarity of their respective advantages," he said.
In response to Western media's complaint that the development of China-Latin America ties threatens U.S. interests in the region, Guo said China does not intend to compete with the United States, but to fulfil the common interests of China and Latin America.
"Today, politics in Latin America is increasingly more fragmented and balanced. It is unlikely that in the future we will again see a situation where a single party controls both the government and the parliament at the same time."
"That will make it impossible for one party or one political alliance to have a monopoly on power," he said.
In the same vein, "neither will it be possible to see the emergence of an extreme policy such as 'get close to China, move away from the U.S.' or 'move away from China, get close to the U.S,'" he said.
