On the morning of July 26, 2022 (GMT+8), the opening Ceremony for “Seminar on China-Latin America Trade and Economic Cooperation and Investment” hosted by Ministry of Commerce and organized by MOFCOM Training Base for International Business Officials (Shanghai) was held online. Mr. Fang Meng from Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, Mr. Chen Wei, executive vice dean of International Education College of Shanghai Business School and Mr. Feng Shujun, chief expert of Think Tank Center, attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches.

Since the outbreak of the Covid-19, China and Latin American countries have always watched and helped each other, and the relationship between China and Latin American countries has continued to sublimate during the test of the epidemic. In recent years, China and Latin American countries have formed close trade partnerships. China continues to be the second largest trading partner of Latin America in 2021. Today, with economic globalization, countries are becoming more connected to each other, which brings opportunities for extensive cooperation between different countries and different regions. This seminar is aimed to further strengthen the economic and trade exchanges between China and Latin American countries, and achieve fruitful results in economic, trade, investment, investment and cooperation.

Mr. Fang Meng said that as the largest developing country, China has always adhered to the spirit of internationalism and humanitarianism, and paid attention to and supported the cause of improving people’s livelihood and seeking development in Latin American countries. And It has also been following the economic diplomacy policy of “mutual respect, equal treatment, promoting economy with politics, combining politics and economy, mutual benefit and reciprocity, common development, diversified forms and pragmatic” to effectively strengthen economic and trade cooperation with Latin American countries.

Mr. Chen Wei said that this seminar is guided by the promotion of building a community with a shared future for mankind. It aims to promote exchanges and cooperation between China and Latin American countries in the field of economics and trade, and open up a new window of opportunity for China and Latin American countries to complement each other’s advantages and open up development. The well-being of the people of all countries provides new opportunities for development. In addition, the seminar will strengthen the discussion and exchange arrangements, aiming to make the participants understand the characteristic cases and accumulated experience of China in promoting economic, trade and investment and cooperation, so as to develop new ideas and methods to promote economic and trade cooperation between China and Latin American countries, and to propose development proposals in trade and investment in the context of their own countries.

Mr. Feng Shujun spoke as a representative of teaching experts. He said that the holding of the seminar could pave the way for economic cooperation between China and Latin American countries. He hopes to share Chinese experience and Chinese wisdom with the participants through his teaching.

Speaking on behalf of the participants, Luisa Elena Veloz Olaf, Director of International Cooperation of the National Training Institute of Venezuela, expressed her hope to meet people from different backgrounds, learn about different cultures, learn from each other and seek opportunities for development, and expressed her honor to participate in the workshop and her gratitude to the organizers.

This seminar lasts for 3 days, with 33 government officials from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and National Training Institutes of Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela, Paraguay participating.

Written by: Zhao Zixuan

Photos by: Li Zheng

Reviewed by: Chen Wei