Chinese Premier Li Keqiang Monday kicked off a four-country Latin America tour to boost cooperation and ties amid concerted efforts to establish a just world order.[Special coverage]
During the tour from May 18 to May 26, Li is expected to meet with leaders of Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Chile to explore ways of strengthening cooperation in such areas as industry, infrastructure, technology, culture and education, among others, as part of the comprehensive cooperation between China and Latin America.
Both experiencing an economic growth slowdown, the two sides are restructuring their economies, and need to promote win-win cooperation, Wu Baiyi, director of the Latin America Institute under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told Xinhua in an interview.
"The two sides have to join hands to better penetrate global value chains and in this way strengthen their development and influence in global governance," Wu said.
INTENSIFIED BILATERAL AND COLLECTIVE COOPERATION
During Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Latin America in July 2014, the two sides launched the China-CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) Forum to establish an extensive and well-designed network to foster comprehensive development and cooperation.
The creation of this new cooperation mechanism signalled a new stage in the China-Latin America ties, and has promoted three-tiered cooperation: between China and an individual country, between China and sub-regional organizations, and between China and CELAC which gathers all 33 countries in Latin America.
Just six months after its foundation, the first China-CELAC ministerial meeting took place in Beijing and led to the approval of a five-year plan that outlined key areas and measures for deepening cooperation.
Above all, signatory countries pledged to raise the bilateral trade volume to 500 billion U.S. dollars in the next decade, while China promised to increase investment in the region to at least 250 billion dollars during the same period.
