China's cooperation with Latin America and Caribbean witnessing rapid growth
By Zhang Yunbi
Exhibitors at the Peru Pavilion prepare coffee for visitors during the 32nd Guangzhou Fair at the China Import and Export Fair Complex in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, on Aug 24. [HUANG TAIMING/FOR CHINA DAILY]
At the recently concluded China International Import Expo in Shanghai, Peru's fluffy alpaca toys became one of the most viral items.
The cute alpaca wool toys are among the many Latin American products that have enchanted Chinese consumers and achieved major success in the Chinese market.
According to Peruvian trade research agency CIEN-ADEX, Peru's exports of agricultural and fishery products to China totaled about $390 million last year.
Peruvian agricultural and fishery products "still have a lot of room for growth" and are of high quality, Chinese ambassador to Peru Song Yang said in a speech at a recent gathering with Peruvian trade leaders.
"China is willing to continue to maintain traditional trade exchanges with Peru, develop cooperation in aquaculture and support the development of the Peruvian handicraft and fishery sectors," he said.
The trade in goods between the two nations serves as part of China's booming trade collaboration with the greater Latin America and Caribbean region, where China currently has five free trade partners.
The rosy prospects for such cooperation were reflected in a report issued last month by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean.
The report, titled "International Trade Outlook for Latin America and the Caribbean 2024", shows that China is an important trading partner of Latin America and the Caribbean as well as the fastest-growing market for the region's exports.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, the growth rate of the commodity trade volume between China and the Latin America and Caribbean region has been much higher than the trade growth rate of the LAC region with the rest of the world in the same period, according to the report.
From 2000 to 2022, China's annual total trade in goods with the region increased 35-fold. During the same period, the LAC region's total trade with the rest of the world increased fourfold.
Last year, China-LAC trade in goods reached $489 billion, according to the report.
In the first three quarters of this year, China-LAC trade in goods totaled $427.4 billion, a year-on-year increase of 7.7 percent, and the number is expected to exceed $500 billion for the entire year.
Regarding China's economic and trade cooperation with the region, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Thursday that "mutual benefit and win-win is a value-oriented choice brought by the development of China-LAC relations".
China has signed an early harvest arrangement for its free trade agreement with Honduras, and has substantially completed negotiations on upgrading its free trade agreement with Peru.
"China's new energy industry production chain also provides more economically accessible solutions for the LAC region's green development transformation," Lin said.
Behind the rapid growth of the commodity trade volume between China and Latin America is their vast market and bright prospects for development, the spokesman said.
China is the world's second-largest economy and the largest consumer market, and the number of its middle-income residents reached 400 million and is expected to double to 800 million in the future.
The Latin America and Caribbean region has a total population of 660 million, a demographic structure featuring a remarkable number of young people, and great potential for economic development.
"China and the region see each other as an opportunity for development," Lin said.
With the joint efforts of both sides, China-LAC trade in goods "will continue to grow at a high rate and achieve a higher level of mutual benefit and win-win results," he added.