China-CELAC Forum offers Colombia vast development opportunities: Business leader

A Colombian business organization leader commended the China-CELAC (the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) Forum for creating great cooperation opportunities to promote all-round socio-economic development for all regional countries, including Colombia.

The fourth ministerial meeting of the China-CELAC Forum opened in Beijing on Tuesday. Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony of the meeting and delivered a keynote speech.

In an online interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Ingrid Tatiana Chaves, executive director of the Colombian Chinese Chamber of Investment and Commerce, said Colombia is enjoying the development dividend of the cooperation mechanism, especially after Colombia succeeded Honduras in assuming CELAC's rotating presidency in April this year.

"The forum gives Latin America and not just Latin America, but Colombia, specifically this time, in this moment, where [Colombian] President [Gustavo] Petro is the select president [of CELAC]. We expect even deeper collaboration in areas like clean energy, that is kind of in the strategy of the Colombian government, food security, digital transformation, logistics, processing, and improvements," she said.

China is Colombia's second-largest trading partner, and Colombia is China's fifth-largest trading partner in Latin America. Meanwhile, China is also taking the lead in some trade sectors with Colombia in the first quarter, according to Chaves.

"The CELAC forum has elevated Latin America's strategic importance in global cooperation, providing a platform for countries like Colombia, in this case, to engage with China in a deeper way in shaping shared solutions, because, as you know, Colombia has been really close to the United States, and the relations with the U.S. that is our first commercial ally in terms of imports and exports. Right now, actually, China is taking a good place, and this year, in the first three months, it's already in a better place than the United States in terms of imports. And we are proud that Colombia and China have just elevated their relationship to a strategic level when President Petro went to China in 2023. This created more trust and opened the door for bigger and more impactful projects," she said.

China-CELAC Forum offers Colombia vast development opportunities: Business leader

More than a month ahead of the Chinese New Year, restaurants across China have reported a booming demand for reunion dinners, with popular places already fully reserved.

The family reunion dinners on the eve of the Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival, is the most important meal of the year for Chinese people. It has long been an essential part of celebrating the Chinese New Year. This year, the festival falls on Feb 17.

In Taiyuan, capital city of north China's Shanxi Province, one restaurant said all tables for the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner have been reserved.

"We now have 36 private rooms and 13 tables in the hall. The New Year's Eve dinner is fully booked. Many families started reserving as early as November 2025," said Han Huiyan, a restaurant manager.

To meet the demand, many restaurants start to offer takeaway banquet package that can be easily prepared at home, allowing families to enjoy a variety of festive dishes without dining out.

In Ningbo, a city in east China's Zhejiang Province, many popular restaurants said that they are approaching full reservation levels. To reduce peak demand, some restaurants now offer off-peak reunion dinners starting later at night.

"We now offer a 'second round' of New Year's Eve dinners, which start at 19:30. We also offer discount for such New Year's Eve dinners, a promotion of 20 percent off set menus," said Sun Lijuan, a restaurant manager.

In Lianyungang, a city in east China's Jiangsu Province, smaller private rooms of a local restaurant have been nearly sold out, and customized menus and home-delivery services have drawn strong interest.

"This year we have specially launched the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner delivery service. Bookings are very strong and customers really like this option," said Geng Maoran, a restaurant general manager.

Restaurants see surge in bookings for Chinese New Year's Eve dinners