More than 1,000 participants, including government officials and leaders of international organisations and the business sector, gathered in China’s capital Beijing for the 16th China-Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) Business Summit, which kicked off Thursday, November 2.

Ren Hongbin, president of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), who was speaking at the opening ceremony, said: “CCPIT will enhance cooperation with institutions such as the People’s Bank of China and the Inter-American Development Bank.”

He further noted that it fully leverages its role in connecting government and enterprises, bridging domestic and international markets, and facilitating the flow of supply and demand.

During the opening ceremony, representatives from the business sector jointly released a cooperation initiative to advance the development of the digital economy, further promote agricultural cooperation, enhance cultural and tourism collaboration, tap into the potential of a green economy, and build a China-LAC community of a shared future.

This effort aims to advance China-LAC economic and trade cooperation to a greater scale, broader scope, and higher level, he noted.

The two-day business summit, which was championed under the theme ‘Open Innovation, Shared Development, aims to deepen practical cooperation between China and Latin America while promoting bilateral trade and investment, and advancing the building of a China-LAC community of a shared future.

Held annually in China and LAC countries in rotation, the China-LAC Business Summit has successfully held 15 sessions in Chinese cities such as Chongqing, Hangzhou, and Chengdu, as well as in Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Mexico, among other countries.