Spotlight: China's new policy paper on LatAm expected to promote comprehensive cooperation

Ecuadorian political observers hailed China's commitment to long-term cooperation with Latin America, which is carried in a Policy Paper on Latin America and the Caribbean it recently published.

"I welcome this new Chinese document, which stresses cooperation," former foreign minister Jose Ayala Lasso told Xinhua, noting the concrete pledges made towards promoting joint development.

"If that is the emphasis that China wants to place on future ties with Latin America, it is positive," said Ayala.

Ayala, who also served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in the 1990s, said the paper, issued in late November, "reflects a new and nascent interest" in both spurring development in the region and expanding China-Latin America cooperation to all fields.

"China is a very serious country and Chinese culture is thousands of years old. It never looks to just the short term, but to the medium and long term, " said Ayala.

Having applied medium- and long-term visions and a target-based planning in "the initial stage" of relations-building in Latin America, "in this secondary stage, (China) is putting the stress on cooperation," said Ayala, "I think that is very positive."

"In addition, it is pursuing equality and mutual respect, so we should opt for robust cooperation," said Ayala.

Former deputy foreign minister Marcelo Fernandez de Cordoba believed boosting cooperation is "mutually beneficial."

China is the world's second largest economy, and it has become a leading trade partner and source of investment for Latin America, especially in the sectors of energy and infrastructure, both of which are essential for development, Fernandez noted.

"It is desirable for Chinese cooperation to increase in areas that benefit both that country and this region," he said, adding that "expanding cooperation is mutually beneficial."

The two political observers agreed that ties between China and Latin America have developed significantly in the past eight years.

Ayala said, "The relationship has gotten much stronger, especially in the financial sector. China has offered Latin America credit lines and enormously financed development programs."

This has led to "good political results in the region," he noted.

What's more, said Fernandez, during Chinese President Xi Jinping's recent visit, Ecuador and China raised bilateral ties to the level of a comprehensive strategic partnership.

"China views Latin America as a partner, and as an important destination for Chinese investment and financing. It is to be expected that with this new document, (cooperation ) will expand even further," he added.

This is China's second policy paper on the region. The first was issued in 2008. Endi