LatAm urged to modernize to benefit from ties with China

Latin America must innovate its productive structure to benefit from ties with China, regional organizations urged in a joint report.

"Latin America must diversify and modernize its productive structure based on development policies of innovative production," says the report, which was recently compiled and presented in Cartagena, Colombia, by the Latin American Development Bank, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Center for Development at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

In contrast to China, which has one of the world's most diversified trade baskets and has developed comparative advantages in nearly 60 industries, Latin America has shown very few advances, says the report, titled "Latin American Economic Outlook 2016, towards a New Partnership with China".

It warns that Latin America's participation in global value chains is substantially lower than other regions.

The report urges countries in the region to modernize their agricultural sectors, as well as services sector, and pay particular attention to knowledge- and technology-intensive services.

China's development generates new challenges and opportunities for the region, says the report.

Trade between China and Latin America, it says, has seen a 22-fold growth in the past 15 years, adding that China will continue to play a key role in region's development. Endi