Xi's visits boost Asia-Pacific cooperation, China-LatAm ties: Chinese FM

BEIJING - Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visits to Ecuador, Peru and Chile and his attendance at the 24th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting have promoted Asia-Pacific cooperation and China-Latin America relations, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Thursday.

The week-long tour, during which Xi met with foreign leaders and representatives from different walks of life in the three countries, and attended a string of bilateral and multilateral meetings and activities, has produced impressive results, said Wang.

At the APEC meeting in Lima, Peru, Xi put forward a series of key initiatives, injecting impetus to cooperation in the Asia-Pacific as well as the development of the global economy, said Wang.

The Chinese president highlighted at the meeting that economic globalization is an irresistible trend, calling for the promotion of trade and investment liberalization and facilitation and opposition to protectionism of all forms, Wang said.

On the building of a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP), which was launched at the 2014 APEC meeting in Beijing, Xi urged all parties to stick to the agenda and take more effective actions to realize FTAAP at an early date.

The Chinese president also underlined APEC's role as a pioneer and champion of economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific and the world at large, and called on APEC members to leverage the Asia-Pacific's role as a growth engine and work for an innovative, invigorated, interconnected and inclusive world economy, the Chinese foreign minister said.

Xi's proposals, which contributed Chinese wisdom to the Asia-Pacific region and the world at large, demonstrated China's image as a responsible major player and its key role in calming people, boosting confidence and building consensus, he added.

While addressing the Peruvian Congress, Xi expounded Chinese policies on Latin America in a comprehensive way and encouraged the two countries to look at their relationship from a strategic and long-term perspective, said Wang.

Xi proposed that China and Latin America and the Caribbean hold high the banner of peaceful development and cooperation, seek synergy of their development strategies, speed up and upgrade practical cooperation and bring benefits to their peoples. His proposal specified the path toward building a China-Latin America community of common destiny and opened up broader prospects for the development of China-Latin America ties, said Wang.

Wang believed that Xi's attendance at the closing ceremony of the China-Latin America year of cultural exchanges and a summit of Chinese and Latin American media executives helped encourage the deepening of cultural dialogues and media exchanges between the two sides.

The Chinese foreign minister noted that Ecuador, Peru and Chile, all at a crucial stage of development, have strong aspirations for deepening their ties with China. Xi's visits, his first to the countries in the capacity of head of state, have become a historic event in China-Latin America relations, he said.

Important consensus on enhancing political mutual trust and expanding mutually beneficial cooperation has been reached between Xi and the leaders of the three Latin American countries, which opened up a new development stage in bilateral relations, Wang said.

China-Ecuador and China-Chile relations have been lifted to comprehensive strategic partnerships during Xi's visits, sending a strong signal that the countries would deepen mutual trust and join hands for cooperation, said Wang.

This year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of China-Peru diplomatic relations and the heads of state of the two countries exchanged visits within three months, which showed the high level of comprehensive strategic partnership, said Wang.

The Chinese and Peruvian presidents have also signed an inter-governmental action plan for cooperation between 2016 and 2021, which echoed a joint communique issued in September on deepening China-Peru comprehensive strategic partnership and served as guidance for the development of bilateral ties and pragmatic cooperation in the next stage, Wang added.