Building new bridges between Latin America and China

(Beijing, April 29, 2011) .- A cooperation agreement was signed between CAF - Latin American development bank - and the Institute of Latin American Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (ILAS), the largest body of studies and research on our region in the Asian nation.

The document was signed by Enrique Garcia, CAF president & CEO, and Zheng Bingwen, director general of ILAS, on the occasion of I CAF-ILAS Conference which achieved the objective of exchanging knowledge and experiences on the challenges for the sustainable development of Latin America and China, mainly in the fields of infrastructure, social development and the processes of local development and urbanization.

The conference was attended by high-level government, political, academic and business leaders from China and the diplomatic corps accredited in Beijing, the OECD and representatives of international, academic and business institutions from Latin America.

Participants included the vice minister of Foreign Affairs, Li Jinzhang; former vice president of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People’s Assembly and president of the Chinese-Latin American Friendship Association, Cheng Siwei; vice president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), Li Yang: vice minister of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, Chen Fengxiang; and the vice president of Eximbank of China, Liu Liang.

After the signing Garcia said "ILAS is now a strategic partner of CAF in the Asian country in our work of generating and disseminating knowledge on the Latin American region and its international projection. The first concrete expression of the agreement is the annual CAF-ILAS conference, whose aim is to stimulate a dialogue between authorities, academics and business leaders from both sides which will strengthen mutual understanding and relations between Latin America and China."

The CAF president added "there is no doubt that China is increasingly important for the economies of Latin America as a source of investment and destination for our exports. A development bank such as CAF can play an important catalytic role in this context, building bridges to strengthen relations resulting in tangible benefits in terms of growth and sustainable development of the region."

The agreement will stimulate inter-institutional cooperation on knowledge generation and dissemination and joint reflection by academics and public policymakers. This cooperation will be developed through information exchange, organization of events, joint research and publications, promotion of internship programs and scholarships, among others.

During his visit to China, García also held official working meeting with Foreign Affairs Vice Minister Li Jinzhang; Eximbank Vice President Liu Liang; and China Development Bank Vice President Gao Jian, among others.