Latin American experts have highlighted how China's engagement with the region has significantly boosted trade, technology collaboration, and infrastructure development through the China-CELAC Forum and the Belt and Road Initiative.
In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) ahead of the fourth ministerial meeting of the China-CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) Forum, which opened on Tuesday in Beijing, the experts elaborated that this partnership is driving common growth.
Jorge Eduardo Malena, director of the Asian Affairs Committee of the Argentine Council for International Relations, said that since its inception in 2015, the China-CELAC Forum has emerged as a basis for dialogue between China and Latin America, providing a platform that promotes mutual understanding and cooperation.
"One of its most outstanding diplomatic achievements is the improvement of political coordination between China and the 33 countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. On the economic front, the forum has facilitated a significant rise in bilateral trade. Furthermore, infrastructure financing has expanded under the BRI with over 20 CELAC countries joining the initiative. In line with this broader agenda, the 2022-2024 joint action plan emphasizes priorities such as green development, digital connectivity and public health," he said.
Fernando Brancoli, associate professor of international security at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, noted the China-Brazil cooperation across various sectors such as agriculture, energy, and infrastructure.
"There is a huge investment right now on enhancing agricultural technology, for example, with Chinese companies and Brazilian companies engaging, for example, on how to construct better machinery on the field and things like that. Also, specialists from agriculture systems in Brazil are going to China right now to spend some time there. The second, I would say, is energy. There are a lot of collaborations in oil, gas and renewable energy sectors that could be mutually beneficial. Brazilian cities right now are basically filled with Chinese electric cars,"he said.
"And last I would say infrastructure is quite important right now, I would say, to Chinese-Brazilian relations. Chinese has been investing massive in Brazilian infrastructure such as railways, ports. And this could also facilitate smoother trade flows and economic growth in this sense. So this, of course, these areas present opportunities to deep economic ties and foster sustainable growth for both nations," Brancoli added.
Professor Luciano Campos from the Universidad de Buenos Aires emphasized Argentina's imports of high-tech products from China, highlighting that the Chinese trade financing could create more opportunities for the Latin American country.
"China produces a lot of goods with aggregated value that Argentina imports such as electronics, computers. So, that trade flow is very relevant and very fruitful for both countries. They both benefit from that trade flow. I guess that besides trade flow, Argentina could enormously benefit from more capital inflows probably coming from China. There is already more and more capital inflows coming from China," he said.
China-CELAC cooperation significantly boosts trade, tech collaboration: experts
