CHINESE President Xi Jinping has announced the launch of a deepening of co-operation between his country and the nations of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Speaking in Beijing at the opening ceremony for the fourth ministerial meeting of the China-Community of Latin American and Caribbean States Forum on Tuesday, he gave details of five new programmes covering areas such as politics, economic development and people-to-people exchanges.

Mr Xi called on the two sides to jointly write “a new chapter” in their shared future.

Among the leaders in attendance were Colombian President Gustavo Petro, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Chilean President Gabriel Boric and New Development Bank president Dilma Rousseff.

Mr Xi stressed the need for China and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) to uphold solidarity and co-ordination and to rise to global challenges with resolve in the face of the surging tide of unilateralism and protectionism.

The Chinese president said that, after 10 years, “the forum has grown from a tender sapling into a towering tree. This fills me with deep pride and satisfaction.

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

Mr Xi also called for co-operation to uphold the multilateral trading system and promote an international environment of openness and co-operation.

To facilitate friendly exchanges, China has decided to implement visa exemption for five Latin American and Caribbean countries as the first step and will expand this policy coverage at proper times, he said.

Guillermo Daniel Ortega Reyes, a Nicaraguan member of the Central American Parliament, said he had received “a message of hope and future” from President Xi’s speech.

Bolivian ambassador to China Hugo Siles said: “We believe that, as the world is undergoing transformations, China is a reference in foreign policy for all countries in the world, especially for Latin America and the Caribbean.”