Wang Yi calls on China, LAC nations to join hands in building mega market

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday called on China and Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries to join hands in building a mega market of some 2 billion people, which he said will not only provide a new engine for growth but also open up new opportunities for global prosperity.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks at a news conference in Beijing after the opening ceremony of the fourth ministerial meeting of the China-CELAC (the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) Forum.

Prospects for cooperation between China and LAC countries are vast, Wang said, adding that China will continue unswervingly to pursue high‑level opening up and share the broad opportunities of Chinese‑style modernization with all countries.

Noting that the world is now undergoing an accelerated transformation unseen in a century, Wang said both China and LAC countries, as important forces in advancing a multipolar world and the democratization of international relations, should raise their historical awareness, deepen solidarity and cooperation, jointly address these turbulent changes and inject positive energy into global peace and development.

The China-CELAC Forum has achieved significant results over its first decade, according to Wang. 

Through careful cultivation by both sides, the forum's institutional framework has become increasingly robust, thereby powerfully advancing China–LAC relations, he said.

He said both sides should seize this momentum to continue broadening the China–CELAC Forum's areas of cooperation, enhance the quality of their collaboration, and propel the forum's development into its next golden decade.