By Gavin Riley in Beijing

Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Shouwen says the People’s Republic of China will continue to be a key ally and good partner to Caribbean countries, offering a renewed commitment to deepen political mutual trust and enhance economic and trade opportunities.

Wang, chairman of the Ministerial Conference of the Fourth China-Caribbean Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum which concluded on Saturday, September 14, indicated that both parties unanimously agreed to chart new strategic partnerships in the areas of food production, green development, digital economy, artificial intelligence, information and communications technology, transportation, tourism, new infrastructure and the blue economy.

“Over the past 20 years, China-Caribbean trade has grown at an average annual rate of 13 per cent, which is three percentage points higher than China’s overall foreign trade growth during the same period,” he disclosed.

The forum, held at the Dongyu Island resort in Hainan Province, saw the attendance of economic and trade ministers as well as ambassadors and high-ranking technocrats from China and 11 Caribbean nations—Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago—including Haiti as an observer.

“We reiterate that the expansion of trade between China and Caribbean countries is a shared objective for all parties involved. Based on the principle of mutual benefit and win-win outcomes, we will continue to enhance trade facilitation and liberalisation.

“To this end, we encourage relevant departments to strengthen cooperation in sanitary and phytosanitary inspection and quarantine, medical and healthcare, tourism, e-commerce, standards and conformity assessment,” he said.

“We are satisfied with the achievements of development cooperation between China and Caribbean countries. The Caribbean side appreciates the various types of assistance provided by China without any political conditions and acknowledges its significant role in Caribbean economic and social development. China will continue to offer help and support to the best of its ability to Caribbean countries, enhance the exchange of development experience, implement effectively various assistance projects, and further improve the effectiveness of assistance,” added China’s international trade representative.

In his speech at the opening ceremony on Friday, Wang said that when President Xi Jinping visited the Caribbean in 2013, the Chinese leader acknowledged the region as an “important force in the international community”.

“China-Caribbean cooperation has benefitted people on both sides. Today, we are gathering in Hainan—the forefront of China’s opening up—to deepen pragmatic, economic, and trade cooperation and promote the building of a closer China-Caribbean community with a shared future. The essence of [our] economic and trade cooperation is complementarity and mutual benefit,” the vice minister contended.

“Since the forum was established 20 years ago, [we] have achieved fruitful results in various fields. Trade volumes have continued to grow. In 2023, trade between China and Caribbean countries reached US$11.8 billion, a ten-fold increase compared to 2003, before the forum was established,” Wang continued.

China’s impact has been greatly felt across the region following the conceptualisation of the forum, last held in the Trinbagonian capital of Port of Spain in 2011, rising from sixteenth to the second-largest trading partner with the Caribbean, behind the United States.

Since the inaugural 2004 forum in Kingston, China has also spearheaded several large-scale infrastructural undertakings across the Caribbean such as the St John’s deep-water port project in Antigua, The City Complex in Bahamas, Sam Lot’s Castle Resorts in Barbados, floating dock in the Cuban capital, Commonwealth of Dominica international airport and the North-South Highway in Jamaica, among others.

“All these projects have promoted local economic development and improved people’s livelihoods—demonstrating the high level of China-Caribbean cooperation,” he said.

Antiguan Foreign Affairs Minister Chet Greene hailed China’s contribution to economic trade cooperation development among member states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) as “necessary”, one which “requires innovative thinking to further strengthen our good efforts”.

“We have a shared vision for the prosperity of the Global South and seek to build a world where developing countries can thrive together. Our deliberations today should set the framework and understanding that China presents an opportunity to diversify their economic partners and help us as Caribbean states reduce dependence on traditional markets,” noted Greene.

“As a region, we need to leverage China’s advancement in technologies to enhance local industries, facilitate the transfer of technology and expertise and boost local innovation and productivity. Our future and the sustainable growth of our Caribbean region [are] highly dependent on a developmental approach that is geared towards recognising the unique social and economic realities of our islands. It must be an approach that is people-focused and equitable,” the senior minister added.

A similar sentiment was echoed by Ambassador Wayne McCook, CARICOM assistant secretary-general, and Grenadian Economic Development Minister Lennox Andrews in their opening ceremony addresses.

For her part, China’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Hua Chunying said it was poetic that the forum was being held in Hainan, which boasts many geographic and tropical climatic similarities to the Caribbean.

Indeed, the China-Caribbean dynamic has undergone a remarkable transformation since President Xi’s 2013 visit to Trinidad and Tobago, where he held talks with nine regional leaders.

“As China’s largest economic zone and the only free trade port with Chinese characteristics, Hainan is without doubt an ideal place for the forum. In the 1960s, we marked the beginning of diplomatic relations between China and Caribbean countries. Since then, for more than half a century, our relations have withstood the test of a changing international landscape and is brimming with vigour and vitality,” she explained.

“As a result, more fruitful outcomes are seen in our cooperation across the board… I hope and am confident that through exchanges at this very event, China and Caribbean countries will unlock more cooperation potentials, find more common ground for cooperation and create more opportunities for China-Caribbean economic and trade cooperation moving forward,” added Hua.

In the joint ministerial statement, Bo’ao was proposed as the permanent site for the China-Caribbean Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum, with a time and location for its fifth iteration to be communicated.