The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is the most important public good that China has provided to the world in the 21st century. The upcoming Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing will attract an increasing number of countries around the world, including Latin American countries. The BRI is becoming a new platform for opportunities and cooperation between China and Latin American countries under its framework.

Proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, the BRI includes the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road. It aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes but Latin America was not included initially.

However, as the BRI notched up increasingly outstanding achievements in Asia, Europe, Africa and other places, scholars and politicians suggested that Latin America nations link their development strategies with the BRI, countries in region began to get interested.

In 2017, the presidents of Argentina and Chile, and ministerial officials from 20 Latin American countries attended the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing. And on Jan 22, 2018, the special statement for BRI was issued at the second ministerial meeting of the China-Latin America Forum held in Chile.

In the past six years, at least 16 countries in Latin America have signed cooperation documents on the BRI with the Chinese government, stepping into a new phase of working with China under the framework of BRI.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Cuba in 1960, China and Latin America countries have made rapid strides in cooperation. China has established diplomatic relationships with 24 countries in Latin America, among them 11 strategic partners. In 2018, trade between the two sides reached about $307 billion, a more than 20-fold increase compared with 2000.

Latin America is China's second-largest overseas direct investment destination with cumulative investment of $387 billion in 2017. Additionally, several countries such as Brazil, Peru and Venezuela have become members of the Asian Infrastructural Investment Bank (AIIB).

In other words, they are developing countries with the same mission of promoting economic growth, eradicating poverty, improving people's livelihood, and striving for international status.

Further, Latin America is rich in resources and is a huge market while China also offers a huge market along with increasing manufacturing and investment capabilities. Hence, both sides hope to use their comparative advantages to strengthen cooperation under the framework of the BRI.

In addition, countries including China and in Latin America face global challenges such as trade protectionism and anti-globalization moves; and both sides hope to strengthen cooperation for a free and fair international trade environment, which has pushed Sino-Latin America relations to a new level.

Looking to the future, Latin America will be actively participating in the BRI and focus on “five connectivity”.

The first is policy coordination. The two sides will promote existing intergovernmental and inter-departmental dialogue, consultation mechanisms and the Sino-Latin America Forum to strengthen communication, exchanges and coordination in development plans, macroeconomic policies and specific policy initiatives.

The second is the facility connectivity. China could directly participate in the construction of infrastructure such as roads, railways, ports, hydro power stations and airports. Chinese businesses could also make contributions to the construction of the Pan-American Highway, the so-called twin oceans projects such as the railroad which connects the east of Brazil and the west of Peru and the tunnel project that connects Argentina and Chile.

The third is unimpeded trade. China and Latin America can make use of their own comparative advantages to promote bilateral trade and personnel exchanges and to achieve incremental trade goals through the existing multiple free trade agreements and trade arrangements.

The fourth is the financial integration. Under the "1+3+6" new cooperation framework and "3×3 new cooperation model", enterprises from China and Latin America can make use of the China-Latin America Cooperation Fund, the China-Latin America Infrastructure Cooperation Fund and the China-Latin America Capacity Cooperation Fund as well as the Silk Road Fund to strengthen financial cooperation, and to expand financing channels.

The fifth is people-to-people bonds. In other words, through various training programs, scholarships, Confucius Institutes, mutual cultural years, art festivals, film festivals and cultural exhibitions, China and Latin America can increase contact and exchanges to form a favorable pattern of mutual understanding, respect and appreciation.

The world is faced with an evolving international landscape and shifting balance of power, and has to respond to destabilizing and uncertain factors. As developing economies, China and Latin American countries hope to strengthen coordination and cooperation in response to those international challenges.

Against this background, the BRI provides a new opportunity for cooperation, which is beneficial for both.

For China, the BRI is a new platform and a new channel to enhance cooperation with Latin America. For Latin America, the BRI offers more opportunities and channels for cooperation with China since it has become an extension and stakeholder of the BRI.

Wu Hongying is special assistant to the president of China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR).

The author contributed this article to China Watch exclusively. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of China Watch.

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