Premier Li's LatAm visit to benefit both sides

BEIJING - Premier Li Keqiang's official visit to Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Chile from May 18 to 26 will not only strengthen Sino-Latin American ties, but also bring fruitful results in economic cooperation and cultural interaction.

Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Chile are important countries in Latin America and China's major economic trade partners in this region.

These four nations accounted for over half of the 263.6 billion US dollars in trade between China and Latin America in 2014.

China has established decades-long diplomatic ties with these countries.

Li's visit comes only four months after the Beijing forum between China and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, clearly reflecting China's sincerity in wishing to consolidate these relationships.

Cooperation in telecoms, transportation, nuclear power, infrastructure and other emerging sectors is expected to be highlighted, beyond conventional trade limited to resources.

By adhering to the theme of "inclusive development", cooperation between China and Latin America is accelerating both side's economic structural optimization.

China is committed to diversifying the approaches to integration with Latin American countries, willing to export advanced equipment and technology to assist their economic upgrade.

China has also been providing financial support to Latin America. Its accumulative investment on the continent had reached 100 billion U.S. dollars by the end of 2014.

A line of credit worth 20 billion US dollars has been established to fund infrastructure projects in Latin America. The China-Latin America Cooperation Fund is also in place to pump 50 billion dollars into joint agricultural projects between the two regions.

During President Xi Jinping's visit to Latin America last year, he proposed "a community of common destiny", and highlighted the role of China and Latin America in making the world a more balanced, prosperous place.

China has constantly expressed its wish for peaceful development and win-win cooperation and the Sino-LatAm partnership has become a leading example trendsetting the spirit of South-South cooperation in recent years.

During Premier Li's first official visit to the continent, he will also attend various cultural and educational exchanges with local people, and sign cooperative agreement on culture, education and technical research.

Both China and Latin America boast an extensive and affluent historical heritage, with people from both regions being increasingly fascinated by each other's culture.

Latin America's enchanting scenery, lavish cuisine, artistic masterpieces and superb football attract more and more Chinese.

Meanwhile, Latin America's growing appetite for learning Chinese (there are 35 Confucius Institutes spreading across the region) also helps bring the two sides closer and promote understanding of the peoples.