Latin American representatives attending the 3rd China-Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) Development Forum called for moving cooperation with China beyond trade and into higher-quality investment, energy and infrastructure.
The forum opened in Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan Province, gathering representatives from 25 LAC nations, international officials and experts to explore cooperation potential.
During the forum, the two sides have explored high-quality cooperation on digital empowerment, targeted poverty alleviation, aging population response, and inclusive growth.
Bilateral trade hit a record 549 billion U.S. dollars in 2025, and China signed over 20 new protocols with multiple countries in the region for agri-food imports, bringing more high-quality Latin American products to Chinese households.
"If you see the numbers around the economy, you can find that the relation between China and our nation is very strong, of course in trade, that is one of the main parts of the economic relation, but also in investment, also in new ways of investment related with energy, mining. We have to find this is new bridges between not only national governments, also local ones, and of course between people to people. That's why we are here, talking people to people, trying to know more about the ground here in Zhengzhou," said Ramiro Ordoqui, former State Secretary for International Economic and Financial Affairs at the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Another delegate echoed the call, highlighting the need to improve the quality of trade and logistics.
"Regions like Latin America and the Caribbean have, in recent years, developed quite a lot of trade with China. This is very important, but it is not enough. Now we have to raise the quality of this kind of relationship, the quality of trade, the quality of logistics. That is why it is so important for Brazil, for my country, to be here, taking part in this event, sharing ideas and beginning to build a stronger joint agenda between Latin America and the Caribbean and China," said Pedro Silva Barros, a researcher at the Institute of Applied Economic Research of Brazil.
LAC representatives call for broader cooperation with China at development forum
