China-CELAC cooperation to help build community with shared future

Chinese President Xi Jinping addresses the third Ministers' Meeting of the Forum of China and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (China-CELAC Forum) via video link, Dec. 3, 2021. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen)

BEIJING, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- Experts from many countries spoke highly of Chinese President Xi Jinping's video speech for the third Ministerial Meeting of the Forum of China and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (China-CELAC Forum).

They believe that his speech advocates joint planning of the blueprint for China-Latin America relations and injects new impetus into strengthening China-Latin America cooperation and jointly building a community with a shared future for global development.

They stressed that President Xi's plan for the two regions will surely promote the realization of common dreams, enhance the well-being of the Chinese and Latin American peoples, and promote the cause of human progress.

A child receives a dose of Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine in Santiago, Chile, Sept. 27, 2021. (Photo by Jorge Villegas/Xinhua)

The China-CELAC Forum will help strengthen bilateral relations between Latin America and China and create favorable conditions for in-depth cooperation between the two sides in economy and trade, finance, culture, technology, and environment, said Maya Alvisa, an Argentine historian and professor at the University of Salvador and University of Buenos Aires.

She said that Latin American countries hope to work with China to build a community with a shared future for global development, which is particularly important in the context of the ongoing pandemic.

Only through cooperation can both sides achieve economic growth and grasp development opportunities, the historian said.

Visitors tour the Brazil exhibition booth during the 2021 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 5, 2021. (Xinhua/Wang Tiancong)

Eduardo Regalado, a senior researcher at the Cuban Center for Studies on International Politics, said in an interview with Xinhua on Friday that the forum is an institutional platform for China-Latin America relations that promotes mutual understanding.

"Both China and Latin America are facing common challenges such as the pandemic. The platform will promote development and innovation. It will help both parties formulate relevant policies and deepen cooperation," he said.

"The Third China-CELAC Forum Ministerial Meeting is a great opportunity for the two parties to deepen projects of cooperation and build a community of shared future," he added.

David Castrillon, professor at the Externado University of Colombia and a member of the Colombia-China Friendship Association, said that facing the challenges of economic recovery, climate change, poverty, and terrorism, a country cannot solve problems on its own and needs to work together with other countries to tackle them.

Chinese engineers and technicians with CRRC Qingdao Sifang Co., Ltd., together with their Argentine colleagues, inspect a train in Llavallol, some 33 km south of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Nov. 16, 2020. (Photo by Martin Zabala/Xinhua)

The forum, Castrillon said, has demonstrated the unity and diversity among its members, adding that he expects this mechanism to promote exchanges and dialogues among different civilizations in the future so that the two sides can share the fruits of cooperation and meet challenges together.

Mauricio Santoro, head of the Department of International Relations at the State University of Rio de Janeiro, said the forum has become the main dialogue platform between the two sides, and Chinese investment in Latin America has been increasing.

He stressed that the Belt and Road Initiative has benefited Latin America, which is far away from China, adding that the cooperation between Latin American countries and China is carried out on the basis of independence and equality, and the cooperation between Latin America and China is bound to usher in a brighter future.