SANTIAGO, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- The second ministerial meeting of the China-CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) Forum opened here Monday was an opportunity for the two sides to find common ground for their future development.
In recent years, especially since the first ministerial meeting of the forum in Beijing in 2015, the two sides have sought to build more solid ties through expanding trade and investments in such areas as infrastructure, energy and agriculture.
CELAC regards China as a partner for achieving regional integration and sustainable economic development.
"We must jointly benefit from the advances China has made and the certain achievements Latin America has made, such as services related to copper, as well as in astronomy and biotechnology. We could enjoy much more of this if we take advantage of all the opportunities that exist between China and Latin America and the Caribbean," Chilean Foreign Minister Heraldo Munoz said.
Munoz said the ministerial meeting approved three key documents -- the Santiago Declaration, a joint action plan, and a special declaration on the Belt and Road Initiative.
While the Santiago Declaration contains the main consensus reached at the meeting, the joint action plan for cooperation from 2019-2021 defines areas of common interest such as renewable energy, science and technology, infrastructure, and the environment.
"(The) special declaration on the Belt and Road Initiative ... has been unanimously welcomed by Latin American and Caribbean countries," Munoz said.
Proposed by China in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road, aiming at building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe, Africa, and beyond, along the ancient Silk Road trade routes.
"We hope that the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road does not remain in Europe but reaches Latin America and the Caribbean," Munoz said.
The outcomes of the meeting are expected to enhance bilateral trade, currently worth over 200 billion U.S. dollars annually.
Alicia Barcena, who has watched China's evolving relationship with the region from a front-row seat as executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, said in terms of public policy, China and CELAC members can work together to meet their separate targets.
"China has a commitment to reduce poverty by 2020 and we in Latin America want to achieve it by 2030. China has already made enormous efforts ... That is a very important demonstration, that there are those seeking the welfare of the people and showing it can be achieved," she said.
She added that in order to reduce poverty, CELAC must invest annually at least 6.7 percent of GDP on infrastructure, which could be achieved with China's support.
"This meeting wants to play a role in this common destiny of a more peaceful, more sustainable world, which is part of the (UN) 2030 Agenda (for Sustainable Development). I believe that China can be a factor, a very important trigger for the world to achieve shared prosperity," Barcena said.
Kamina Johnson Smith, foreign minister of Jamaica, picked up on the theme of shared prosperity, using the example of the achievements China and Jamaica have seen in their joint relationship, from sports to infrastructure.
"Jamaica has been enjoying, over the last two or three years, one of its most diverse periods of cooperation with China. This has been enjoyed at the level of people-to-people exchanges, scholarships and training. Jamaica even has coaches from China in synchronized swimming, badminton and other sports," she said.
Johnson Smith highlighted a highway from Jamaica's south to north coast, built and funded by a Chinese company, as well as mining projects, such as bauxite extraction and aluminum refining.
Completed in March 2016, the four-lane 67.2-km expressway linking Jamaican capital Kingston in the south with the tourist city of Ocho Rios in the north, cost 721 million U.S. dollars. It was financed, constructed and is being operated by China Communications Construction Company.
"We are an excellent example of this type of partnership. As we have also heard from Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, there is interest in improving sea transport. Our work on our ports and logistics hub as well as the special economic zones being created close to our ports will be able to host neo-Panamax-size vessels, which will facilitate trade with China," she said.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza thanked Chinese President Xi Jinping for his efforts to nurture closer ties between China and CELAC.
"He saw in Latin America a partner, he saw brothers, and he treated CELAC like a valid exchange partner, as the organization that is the joining of...all the interaction mechanisms (in the region)," he said.
"President Xi Jinping saw this with great clarity. When the first China-CELAC Forum happened (in Beijing in 2015), he personally came to inaugurate it, to meet the foreign ministers and representatives of international delegations," Arreaza added.
"And later when the Belt and Road Forum (for International Cooperation) took place in 2017, President Xi invited presidents from Latin America and the Caribbean to be present ... I think China will ... always interact respectfully with Latin America, seeking the development and happiness of its people," he said.
