A group of reporters from Latin America and the Caribbean, who are in Beijing for the fourth ministerial meeting of the China-CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) Forum, talked about their expectations and insights from their stay in China.
Hernan Federico Russo, a reporter of Clarin, the largest newspaper in Argentina, has been back from southwest China's Sichuan Province and Chongqing Municipality with a pile of items from fridge magnets to panda dolls. During this trip, he finds something similar between Argentina and China in food culture.
"We drink Mate in Argentina every day. It's like a tea and traditionalists share [it] with the other people. Not only for me, this is for me and for you and for my other friends. It's not one for one. It's one for everybody. When I tried the hotpot, I feel the same, like we cook together, we serve together the food," he said.
Eric Napoli Fernandes, a reporter from Poder360, a digital media company based in Brasilia, the capital city of Brazil, said he is most interested in China's infrastructure, especially high-speed rail.
"Everybody talks about the bullet train from China, especially from Latin America because we don't really have it there. [In] Rio and Sao Paulo, the major cities in Brazil, they talk about building a bullet train there, like a very short distance, but like 40, 30 years, it never happened," he said.
Brazil has been China's largest trading partner in South America and an important supplier of energy, minerals to China. Fernandes said he believes Chinese technology on Brazilian soil could create new possibilities.
"We have a lot of resources that we don't know how to correctly use it. Brazil cannot be like only a commodity exporter, like forever. We need to build own stuff, build like industrial park, and I think China is the most willing to help," he said.
Danielle John, a reporter from Trinidad and Tobago, the first English-speaking country in the Caribbean to join China's Belt and Road Initiative, said a field trip brings her a different picture from Western reports.
"Because unfortunately, and it's very sad to see just like what China has been saying, Western media has painted China in such a negative light. So I came and then I saw it for myself, and I have a totally different view. This place is just like any other country, but actually it's better because it's more advanced, safer," she said.
The fourth ministerial meeting of the China-CELAC Forum will be held in Beijing on Tuesday and this year marks the 10th anniversary of the official launch of the China-CELAC Forum.
CELAC, launched in 2010, is an intergovernmental mechanism for dialogue and political agreement, which includes all 33 Latin American and Caribbean countries in the region.
International journalists share insights from visiting China
International journalists share insights from visiting China
International journalists share insights from visiting China
