China-CELAC Forum Conclude a Successful First Ministerial Meeting
Beijing, Jan 9 .- The first ministerial meeting of the China-Celac Forum concluded today with the approval of a five-year cooperation plan, the regulations of a new bilateral agreement body and an upcoming appointment in 2018 in Chile.
China and the 33-member Community of Latin American and Caribbean (CELAC) also signed after two days of talks the Beijing Declaration, which is summarized political consensus between the two parties.
Diplomatic officials told Prensa Latina that the implementation of this forum is of great importance for complementation between the two parties that despite the distance and different cultures have in common the condition of being in developing countries.
The states participating in the meeting confirmed the commitment to carry out exchanges and programs on the basis of equality, respect and mutual benefit.
Official spokesmen said the Beijing Declaration provides the basis for the direction and policy of cooperation, while the plan defines priorities and measures for this bilateral comprehensive character over the next five years between China and the CELAC.
That plan was discussed by President Xi Jinping and leaders of the Quartet of CELAC during their meeting in June in Brazil with the title of 1 + 3 + 6, which represents a program, three engines (trade, investment and cooperation) and six areas fundamental for collaboration.
The program will mark the relations of cooperation between China and Latin American and Caribbean 2015-2019 includes security, political, trade, investment, finance, infrastructure, energy, resources, industry, agriculture, science and exchanges between peoples, among others.
The meeting was opened yesterday in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who was accompanied by the head of state of Costa Rica, Luis Guillermo Solis, in his capacity as President pro tempore of this cooperation mechanism regional.
Also attended by the presidents of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, who will replace Costa Rica in late January in front of CELAC; the Head of State of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, a country where the agency was established in 2011, and the premier Bahamas, Pierre Christie, who represents the Caricom in the Quartet.
The ministry, meanwhile, was conducted by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of China, Wang Yi, and Costa Rica, Manuel Gonzalez, who decided that its next meeting will take place in Chile in 2018. (Prensa Latina)
