NEW AMIGOS: Chinese President Xi Jinping shakes hands with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto after signing a joint statement in Mexico City on June 4 (YAO DAWEI)

China has signed free trade agreements with three Latin American countries—Chile, Peru and Costa Rica. China is now the second biggest trade partner of Latin America. In spite of the global economic downturn and the European debt crisis, bilateral trade exceeded $261 billion in 2012, an increase of 8.1 percent over the previous year. It is expected to reach $400 billion in 2017. China's investment in Latin America has totaled nearly $65 billion, creating abundant job opportunities in Latin American countries. According to the latest forecast of the Inter-American Development Bank, China is expected to be Latin America's top trade partner in five years.

"Developing relations with Latin America is of great significance," said Wu Hongying, Vice President of the Chinese Association for Latin American Studies. Wu Hongying explained that emerging developing countries now have become the impetus driving world economic recovery, as most developed countries are still struggling with the financial crisis. Boosting China-Latin America cooperation will deliver tangible benefits to them and also help build a multi-polar world. Moreover, conducting trans-Pacific economic cooperation with Latin American countries will contribute to peace and development of the Asia-Pacific region.

Wu Hongying stressed that developing relations with Latin American countries represents the direction of China's peaceful development, because the development of China-Latin America relations is open, inclusive, cooperative and win-win. "It conforms to the common interests of China and Latin America, and will make active contributions to regional and global peace, stability and prosperity," said Wu Hongying.

In November 2008, China issued a policy paper on Latin America and the Caribbean, setting a basis for its strategic cooperation with Latin America. China hopes to establish long-term strategic relations with countries in the region, and raise their practical cooperation to a higher level. During Xi's visit, China and the three Latin American countries signed cooperative agreements in areas such as agriculture, technology, energy, environmental protection and processing.

In addition to their wide-ranging and multi-level strategic cooperation, China and Latin America have provided mutual assistance on various global issues, which has greatly increased both sides' influence in the world, said Wu Baiyi, a researcher on Latin American studies with the CASS.

China and Latin America are inseparable in terms of South-South cooperation. Both sides have exchanged views and supported each other on a variety of issues through world-class platforms like APEC, BRICS and G20 summits as well as the newly established Latin America panel at the Boao Forum for Asia.

"The China-Latin America relationship has entered a mature stage of high-speed development. Latin America's status in China's global cooperative blueprint has greatly improved," Wu Baiyi said.

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