On November 2, Vice President Han Zheng attended and addressed the opening ceremony of the 16th China-LAC Business Summit in Beijing.

Han Zheng said President Xi Jinping attaches great importance to the development of China-Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) relations, and has pointed out that relations between China and the LAC have entered a new era characterized by equality, mutual benefit, innovation, openness and benefit for the people. As the ballast and stabilizer of China-LAC relations, China-LAC economic and trade cooperation has grown in scale, scope and level. China and the LAC countries have become development partners for win-win cooperation. Going forward, the Chinese and LAC economies are highly complementary and enjoy a broad space for cooperation. Han Zheng said that the two sides should unswervingly deepen political mutual trust, promote people-to-people and cultural exchanges, strengthen cooperation in such fields as economy and trade, agriculture, infrastructure, and medical and health care, create more new cooperation highlights in fields such as climate response, energy transition and digital economy, and inject more certainty, stability and positive energy into the world.

Han Zheng pointed out that at the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held in October, President Xi Jinping announced eight steps taken by China to support the joint pursuit of high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. China is ready to work with the LAC countries to advance high-quality Belt and Road cooperation in an in-depth manner, push for the better development of China-LAC relations in the new era, join hands in building a China-LAC community with a shared future, and bring more benefits to the well-being of the people of China and the LAC.

Yin Li, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee, attended and addressed the opening ceremony. He said that Beijing as the capital city and an important window for China’s opening up, is well-positioned to contribute its strength to China-LAC cooperation. Beijing stands ready to work with the LAC partners to deepen open and innovative cooperation as well as people-to-people exchanges, share broad market opportunities and benefits of high-level opening-up, and push forward China-LAC cooperation in various fields, so as to achieve more signature outcomes and work for a shared future.

Themed “Open Innovation, Shared Development”, the summit has provided an important platform for promoting economic and trade cooperation, and deepening people-to-people and cultural exchanges between China and the LAC. Over 1,000 participants, including government officials, people from the business community, experts and scholars, and representatives of international organizations from China and 26 LAC countries attended the event.