Global Times: Xi unveils roadmap for deepening cooperation with LAC countries

BEIJING, May 14, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday announced the launch of five programs to advance shared development and revitalization with Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

The five programs, ranging from solidarity, development and civilization to peace and people-to-people connectivity, were announced by Xi when delivering a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the fourth ministerial meeting of the China-CELAC (the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) Forum in Beijing.

In 2015, Xi and LAC delegates attended the opening ceremony of the first ministerial meeting of the China-CELAC Forum in Beijing, which marked the launch of the forum.

On Solidarity Program, Xi said China is willing to strengthen solidarity with LAC countries and continue to support each other on issues concerning their core interests and major concerns, to firmly safeguard the international system with the UN at its core and the international order underpinned by international law, and to speak with one voice in international and regional affairs, per Xinhua.

In the next three years, China will invite 300 members from political parties of CELAC member states every year to visit China to facilitate exchanges on national governance best practices, Xi said.

On Development Program, China is willing to work with LAC countries to implement the Global Development Initiative, resolutely uphold the multilateral trading system, ensure stable, unimpeded global industrial and supply chains, and promote an international environment of openness and cooperation, Xi said.

Noting that the two sides should foster greater synergy between their development strategies and expand high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, Xi said China will import more quality products from LAC countries and encourage Chinese enterprises to expand their investment in the region, according to Xinhua.

On Civilization Program, Xi called for joint implementation of the Global Civilization Initiative. He said both sides should uphold the vision of equality, mutual learning, dialogue, and inclusiveness between civilizations, champion humanity's common values of peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy and freedom, and enhance China-LAC civilizational exchanges and mutual learning, including through a conference on China-LAC inter-civilizational dialogue.

On Peace Program, Xi called for joint implementation of the Global Security Initiative. He said both sides should cooperate more closely in disaster governance, cybersecurity, counterterrorism, anti-corruption, narcotics control and combating transnational organized crime so as to safeguard security and stability in the region.

On People-to-People Connectivity Program, Xi said in the next three years, China will provide CELAC member states with 3,500 government scholarships, 10,000 training opportunities in China, 500 International Chinese Language Teachers Scholarships, 300 training opportunities for poverty reduction professionals, and 1,000 funded placements through the Chinese Bridge program, initiate 300 "small and beautiful" livelihood projects, and support CELAC member states in developing Chinese language education.

China has decided to offer a visa-free policy to five LAC countries, and will expand the policy to cover more regional countries in due course, Xi said, Xinhua reported.

Gustavo Petro, president of Colombia, the CELAC rotating chair, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Chilean President Gabriel Boric, and Dilma Rousseff, president of the New Development Bank and former Brazilian president, addressed the event respectively. Special representative of Yamandu Orsi, president of Uruguay, the incoming CELAC rotating chair, read out the president's congratulatory letter.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi presided over the fourth ministerial meeting of the China-CELAC Forum in Beijing on Tuesday. Noting that this year marks the tenth anniversary of the official launch of the China-CELAC Forum, Wang said that over the past decade, the forum has become an important platform for equal dialogue and mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries, Xinhua reported.

Wang said that the cooperation between China and LAC countries refuses camp confrontation and advocates openness and win-win results, setting a new model for building a new type of international relations and providing fresh impetus for Global South cooperation.

The meeting adopted the Beijing declaration of the meeting, and the China-CELAC joint action plan for cooperation in key areas (2025-2027).

Defending cooperation, multilateralism

After the opening ceremony, Xi and Brazilian President Lula attended a signing ceremony of cooperation documents in Beijing on Tuesday.

China and Brazil on Tuesday issued a joint statement on strengthening the building of a China-Brazil community with a shared future for a more just world and a more sustainable planet and jointly upholding multilateralism, and a joint statement on the Ukraine crisis. China and Brazil agreed to enhance communication and coordination on the Ukraine crisis and support Russia and Ukraine in initiating direct dialogue, according to Xinhua.

Hundreds of Chinese and Brazilian business people and several Brazilian ministers attended the China-Brazil Business Forum on Monday, the Global Times learned. Lula said his visit to China with a large delegation composed of ministers, governors, parliamentarians and entrepreneurs aims to demonstrate Brazil's commitment to jointly building a China-Brazil community with a shared future for a more just world and a more sustainable planet together with China.

In an interview given at the Great Wall of China, Colombian President Gustavo Petro confirmed that Colombia will join China's Belt and Road Initiative. "This decision will allow our country to strengthen industrial development, make use of Artificial Intelligence and diversify trade," he said, according to a video published by Colombia's presidential office on X.

In a post on X on Tuesday, Chilean President Gabriel Boric wrote that "the path of cooperation outlined with China is a great opportunity to advance from a perspective of equality, mutual benefit, and shared development."

This year, a wide array of measures has been announced at this forum, highlighting the vast potential for cooperation between China and CELAC members. This has marked a milestone for China-Latin America relations and a sustainable Global South future, said  Wang Youming, Director of the Institute of Developing Countries at the China Institute of International Studies.

Wang noted that traditional trade sectors, such as agriculture and mining, will continue to be strengthened. However, emerging fields like the digital economy and green technology are poised to become focal points for major cooperation in the coming years.

In an interview with the Global Times, Marcio Elias Rosa, executive secretary of the Brazil's Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade, and Services said that both Brazil and China have always adhered to multilateralism. The cooperation between the two countries is not only beneficial to their mutual complementarity, but also conducive to building a more just and sustainable global economic order.

There is a high level of coordination between Brazil and China, said Elias Rosa, noting that China and Brazil are not only business partners, but also have the potential to develop into industrial partners in the future, said Wang Youming.

He said this those signs underscores the enthusiasm of CELAC countries in deepening cooperation with China amidst the uncertainties spawned by certain nations, while also highlighting their view of China as a trustworthy partner.

United under Global South

Speaking at the China-Brazil Business Forum in Beijing, Lula said that the relationship between China and Brazil will be unbreakable, for both sides need each other, and as long as the two countries join hands, the Global South will gain unprecedented respect in the world.

"Now, with the Beijing Declaration, a historical window has been opened for Latin America to catch a glimpse of a new path. And it's not just a matter of geopolitical realignment. It's a paradigm shift. China - the world's second-largest economy, the engine of global growth, and a leader in the Global South - doesn't impose, doesn't threaten, doesn't sanction, doesn't invade. It proposes partnerships. It builds bridges. It opens up markets. It respects cultures," wrote Leonardo Attuch, founder and CEO of Brasil 247, a Brazilian news and political analysis website.

The Beijing Declaration was born in a multipolar world that is in transition, where the Global South organizes itself to build its future based on sovereignty and justice, Attuch wrote

China and most CELAC countries have similar historical experiences of being colonized, and currently share the main aspiration of economic development, Li Haidong, a professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times. He added that China and those countries share consistent stances on many international issues.

It can be said that in terms of improving global governance and constructing an orderly international order, the voices of China and Latin America are both resounding and in agreement, Li said.

This article first appeared in Global Times

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202505/1333978.shtml

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