China, LAC countries reaffirmed commitment to peace, development, cooperation

China's leading agricultural and food company COFCO Corporation has established a soybean traceability system in Brazil, using remote sensing satellites to determine whether farms are involved in illegal deforestation. [Photo by Li Dong]

The fourth ministerial meeting of the China-CELAC (the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) Forum was held in Beijing on May 13. Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony and delivered a keynote speech.

He reviewed the development of China-LAC (Latin America and the Caribbean) relations, and elaborated on the rich connotations, achievements, and broad prospects of the China-LAC community with a shared future. He also proposed new initiatives and measures for advancing the relationship, providing guidance and injecting new momentum for the steady and long-term development of China-LAC relations.

The meeting marked a new chapter in joint progress for both sides, sent a clear message of solidarity and self-reliance among Global South countries while contributing to enhancing people's wellbeing and advancing the cause of human progress.

As a Chinese saying goes, "No mountain or ocean can distance people who have shared aspirations." This sentiment echoed through the meeting as China and LAC countries pointed to an increasingly shared understanding of global development trends, stronger confidence in the future of their bilateral ties, clearer consensus on viewing each other as development opportunities, and a growing aspiration to build a community with a shared future.

China-LAC relations have withstood the test of the international turbulence and entered a new stage marked by equality, mutual benefit, innovation, openness, and tangible benefits for the people. The two sides have deepened political mutual trust, expanded practical cooperation and enhanced people-to-people exchanges, delivering benefits to both peoples and setting an example for South-South cooperation.

As a primary platform for overall China-LAC cooperation, the China-CELAC Forum initiated by Xi has been instrumental in advancing the building of a China-LAC community with a shared future.

A decade ago, the forum held its inaugural ministerial meeting in Beijing, turning the vision of overall cooperation into reality.

A rail-sea intermodal train loaded with automobiles departs from Nanchang, east China's Jiangxi province, bound for Chancay Port, Peru, March 14, 2025. [Photo by Shi Yu/People's Daily Online]

The forum's establishment responded to the world's prevailing trend of peace, development, cooperation, and win-win, marking a significant milestone in the history of China-LAC relations.

Over the past decade, the forum has thrived and steadily improved its institutional mechanisms, becoming a vital platform for enhancing political mutual trust, aligning development strategies, and strengthening people-to-people connections.

The fourth ministerial meeting of the forum served as an important step for both sides to build on past achievements, jointly map out future cooperation, and advance the vision of a shared future. It carries symbolic significance within the broader trajectory of China-LAC cooperation.

The meeting adopted multiple outcome documents on cooperation in areas such as scientific and technological innovation, economic and trade investment, artificial intelligence, finance, infrastructure, agriculture and food security, industry and information technology, energy and minerals, and Belt and Road cooperation, demonstrating both sides' firm commitment to peace, development, and cooperation.

Advancing the building of a China-LAC community with a shared future will bring greater benefits to the peoples of both sides. China is advancing the building of a great nation and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese modernization, while LAC countries are working to draw strength from unity and achieve better development and rejuvenation.

With highly complementary economies and closely aligned development strategies, China and LAC countries enjoy natural advantages in deepening cooperation. China is Latin America's second-largest trading partner. The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative is contributing to development in more than 20 economies in the LAC region. Additionally, more than 200 infrastructure projects and multiple industrial projects built by China have generated over one million jobs, propelling production capacity cooperation and regional industrialization.

As China and LAC countries work together to advance the comprehensive cooperative partnership guided by principles of equality, mutual benefit and common development, and build a China-LAC community with a shared future, they will unlock broader prospects for cooperation across all fields.

As changes of the world, of the times, and of history unfold at an unprecedented pace and uncertainties, instabilities, and unpredictability in the world are notably increasing, China and CELAC countries share a common aspiration to oppose hegemony and power politics and to promote equality and mutual respect. Both sides support economic globalization, multilateralism and the multilateral trading system, oppose unilateralism and economic bullying, and oppose politicizing and weaponizing economic and trade relations.

China stands ready to take the meeting as an opportunity to discuss plans of development cooperation with CELAC countries and jointly contribute to addressing global challenges, promoting global governance reform and safeguarding world peace and stability.

The views don't necessarily reflect those of Qiushi Journal.