Yuan Dongzhen: Upgrading the quality of China Latin America cooperation has entered a new channel

The meeting of the China Brazil Financial Strategic Cooperation Working Group was held in Shanghai, China, a few days ago. China welcomed Brazil's issuance of panda bonds in China and supported the pilot business of China Brazil Bond Connect. It is reported that Brazil is planning to issue its first RMB denominated sovereign panda bond. In addition, following Brazil's announcement of visa free entry policy for Chinese citizens in May, Uruguay subsequently announced visa free entry for Chinese citizens. This demonstrates the clear logic of the cooperation between China and Latin American countries, shifting from traditional "economic and trade connections" to "all-round leaps", indicating the enormous potential for development of China Latin America cooperation.

After entering the 21st century, China Latin America trade has shown a leapfrog growth, with trade scales reaching new highs repeatedly. At the same time, economic and trade cooperation has achieved deep integration from commodity trade to industrial chains, and Latin America has become an important destination for China's industrial chain to "go global". Cooperation in the field of resources and energy continues to deepen, and new breakthroughs have been made in new energy cooperation. New progress has been made in cooperation in the field of infrastructure, achieving dual wheel drive of physical and digital connectivity, and many landmark cooperation projects have achieved good economic and social benefits. Financial cooperation has formed a new pattern, which includes financing arrangements based on bilateral major projects, as well as specialized mechanisms such as the China Latin America Cooperation Fund, the Capacity Cooperation Investment Fund, and currency swaps. In terms of cultural exchanges, forums such as the China Latin America Think Tank Forum, Development Forum, and Civilization Dialogue Forum have been held successively. The number of air routes between China and Latin America has gradually increased, making personnel exchanges more convenient and the foundation of people to people exchanges more stable. Brazil and Uruguay's visa free policy for Chinese citizens is a microcosm of the increasing cultural exchanges between China and Latin America.

As the mutually beneficial and pragmatic cooperation between China and Latin America continues to reach new heights, there is still enormous potential to be explored in areas such as economy, trade, investment, development strategy alignment, cultural exchanges, and exchange of development experience in the future.

Firstly, in the fields of economy, trade, and investment, the trade volume between China and Latin America will reach 549 billion US dollars by 2025, an increase of more than 40 times compared to 2000. Latin America has also become the second largest destination for China's overseas investment. However, the potential for economic and trade cooperation between the two sides has not yet been fully unleashed. Firstly, there is still a significant gap in promoting trade in China Latin America's characteristic advantageous products, high value-added products, and technology intensive products; Secondly, there is significant room for improvement in strengthening cooperation in service trade and digital trade; Thirdly, in terms of supporting enterprises from both sides to invest and develop in each other, the growth momentum is still considerable; Fourthly, we will further encourage tourism agencies and enterprises in China and Latin America to promote tourism resources and products to each other, expand tourism cooperation, and seize more growth points; The fifth is to support and encourage both airlines to engage in business cooperation in the form of code sharing, and to open up flights between China and Latin America according to market demand, in order to explore growth opportunities. If we can continue to make efforts in these areas, China and Latin America will deeply activate economic and trade cooperation resources and promote economic and trade cooperation to a new level.

Secondly, strengthening the docking of development strategies is an important path to build a community of common destiny between China and Latin America, and to promote high-quality international cooperation between China and Latin America in jointly building the "the Belt and Road", as well as an important space for improving and upgrading bilateral cooperation. After entering the 21st century, China Latin America cooperation has mainly focused on trade, investment, and infrastructure construction, achieving fruitful results and promoting bilateral cooperation into a new stage of equality, mutual benefit, innovation, openness, and benefiting the people. At this stage, there is still practical motivation and favorable conditions for further upgrading China Latin America cooperation. On the one hand, the economic structures of China and Latin America are highly complementary. China has obvious advantages in manufacturing, infrastructure construction, and digital economy, while Latin American countries have comparative advantages in abundant resources and high market demand. On the other hand, China Latin America cooperation is consistent with the practical needs of Latin American countries for reindustrialization, and also conforms to the goal of promoting the joint construction of the "the Belt and Road" international cooperation, providing broad space for new growth poles in bilateral cooperation.

Thirdly, strengthening and promoting the exchange and mutual learning of development experience is an important aspect of China Latin America cooperation. China and Latin America belong to the global South, with similar development stages and levels. Both sides have similar historical experiences, facing common development tasks and similar challenges. China and Latin America have neither historical issues nor fundamental contradictions or conflicts of interest. China and Latin American countries have accumulated a lot of experience and lessons in exploring the path of independent development. Strengthening and promoting the exchange and mutual learning of development experience is an urgent requirement for China and Latin America to achieve independent development. It is not only conducive to enhancing political mutual trust and promoting people to people exchanges between the two sides, but also has important reference significance for other countries in the global South, and can even make important contributions to resolving global challenges.

Fourthly, further exploring the international significance of China Latin America cooperation is an important direction. China and Latin America are important representatives of developing countries and emerging market countries, playing a significant role in international affairs. The mutually beneficial and pragmatic cooperation between China and Latin America is conducive to safeguarding the common rights and interests of developing countries and emerging market countries, and expanding the voice and influence of developing countries in international affairs. The current international landscape is undergoing profound adjustments, with unilateralism and protectionism on the rise. Developing countries face increasing difficulties and challenges in safeguarding their own security, sovereignty, and development rights. Upgrading the quality of China Latin America cooperation not only provides a solid foundation for the long-term development of China Latin America relations, but also serves as a demonstration for cooperation among developing countries.

China Latin America cooperation is standing at a critical juncture, transitioning from the accumulation of "quantity" to the leap of "quality". Brazil and Uruguay's visa free policy for Chinese citizens is conducive to opening up channels for personnel exchanges, and Brazil's plan to issue panda bonds has opened up a new path for financial interconnection. Behind these two clues, the potential for cooperation between China and Latin America in areas such as infrastructure, industrial chains, technological innovation, digital economy, and cultural exchanges is highlighted. The exchange and mutual learning of development experience and the alignment of development strategies are shifting from policy initiatives to practical actions, and the upgrading of China Latin America cooperation has entered a new channel. (The author is the director of the Latin American Studies Center at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies and Economics, and the vice president of the China Latin American Society.)