China, Latin America to embrace new era of shared destiny: People’s Daily

 

China and Latin America will embrace a new era of shared destiny, reads a commentary published in People’s Daily under the byline of Guo Jiping on Wednesday, ahead of Xi’s forthcoming state visits to Ecuador, Peru and Chile.

 

Guo Jiping is a columnist of the People’s Daily writing on China’s stance and viewpoints on major international issues.

 

The following is an abstract translation of the article:

 

Thanks to the top-level design with long-term strategic foresight, China and Latin America have maintained a stable relationship over the past three-plus years.

 

The two sides have established China-Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) Forum, set up a comprehensive cooperative partnership based on equality, mutual respect and common development, and agreed to build a new type of ties featuring political mutual trust, win-win economic cooperation, mutual cultural learning, close coordination on international affairs, and mutual promotion of overall cooperation and bilateral ties.

 

They injected new vitality into bilateral pragmatic collaboration by adapting their cooperation to new changes. After price decline of bulk commodity, as well as the fluctuating exchange rates placed pressure on bilateral trade, China and Latin American countries introduced a “1+3+6” cooperation framework to cope with the new challenges.

 

As an effort to realize inclusive growth and sustainable development, the two sides issued the China-CELAC Cooperation Plan (2015-2019), a roadmap on bilateral collaboration. At the same time, they agreed to boost pragmatic cooperation by prioritizing trade, investment and financial cooperation, and dock their industries with focus on energy, resources, infrastructure, agriculture, manufacturing, technological innovation and information technology.

 

Latin America was the first territory to be invaded under the western colonial expansion. For hundreds of years, the rise of the western powers has left a never-forgotten pain for the region as the great Latin American civilization fell a victim of the European expansion.

 

After the end of World War II, the world was thrust into the Cold War as a battle ground for superpowers to compete for influence. Scholars pointed out Latin American lost their trust in the outside world because of those historical pains.

 

But in a sharp contrast with the West, China, with its multiple cooperation initiatives, has gained recognition from the continent that has strong aspiration for independence. Such difference can be attributed to several reasons.

 

One of the reasons lies in China’s adherence to the principle of equality when cooperating with Latin American partners. The best proof for this is the warm applause after Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed the importance of equal cooperation at the opening ceremony of the 1st China-CELAC Ministerial Forum in Jan. 2015.

 

Another reason is China’s pursuit of win-win cooperation. Different with other powers, China has been seeking common development rather than self-interest when cooperating with Latin American countries.

 

After the outburst of the 2008 economic crisis, both sides have pulled through the hard times together by giving play to their respective advantages.

 

In addition, China upholds an inclusive spirit of cooperation. Taking the interests of all parties into consideration, China welcomes engagement of more regional and multilateral organizations in China-Latin America cooperation.

 

What’s more, China never targets any third party or seeks geopolitical gains in its cooperation with Latin America.

 

Xi once called on China and Latin America to build a community of shared destiny by seeking maximum common ground from the dreams of the two peoples. This proposal should not be an empty slogan, but be translated into concrete actions.

 

Understanding that the Caribbean island countries are vulnerable to climate change, Xi has pledged China’s support to their reasonable requirement in the field as well as utmost assistance to them under the South-South cooperation framework.

 

In addition, an emergency warning and monitoring system developed for Ecuador by a Chinese company has helped the country with disaster relief after a deadly earthquake, winning a good reputation among the Ecuadorian people. Thanks to China’s help, Bolivia launched its first telecommunications satellite.

 

These concrete actions will finally bring the blueprint on community of shared destiny for China and CELAC countries as well as the world to reality.