BEIJING, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Addressing the China-Latin American and Caribbean Countries Leaders' Meeting held in Brazil in 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed that China and Latin America and the Caribbean build a community with a shared future.
China and Latin American countries are all developing ones, at similar stages of development, and shouldering the same development tasks. They can be partners in their respective pursuit of modernization.
During Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's China visit last year, Xi and his Brazilian counterpart witnessed the signing of a series of cooperation agreements, with many related to such new areas as poverty reduction, digital economy and telecommunications.
That served not only as an indication that the two countries will continue to create new growth drivers and jointly promote high-quality cooperation to further benefit their people, but as a reflection of the new trend in the win-win cooperation between China and Latin America.
Take new energy cooperation. Latin America, with abundant sunshine, is one of the world's most promising photovoltaic (PV) markets. Statistics of InfoLink show Latin America had 24.8-27.4 GW of PV demand in 2023, with Brazil being the largest market, followed by countries such as Chile and Mexico. On the other hand, China has been a global leader in the PV industries.
Chinese companies have been actively involved in the construction of PV power plants in Latin American countries, helping to transform the region's energy sector. In Brazil, the Marangatu Solar Complex, invested by SPIC Brazil, a subsidiary of China's State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC), was officially inaugurated in June this year. It will generate enough electricity to power approximately 550,000 homes annually.
"Today we have a very large presence of Chinese companies in Brazil … This has contributed to the reindustrialization of Brazil," said former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff in a recent interview with Xinhua. She is now head of the New Development Bank, a multilateral development bank established by the BRICS group.
In late September in Beijing, ahead of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, Xi presented Rousseff with the Friendship Medal, China's highest award for foreign nationals, to honor her contribution to the China-Brazil friendship.
Rousseff said she was amazed by China's remarkable development in recent decades. She spoke highly of Xi's philosophy of people-centered development. "I share deeply" that vision, she said.
China, led by Xi, is striving to realize its dream of national rejuvenation, while unity, cooperation, development and revitalization are the dreams of the Latin American people. In Xi's eyes, China and Latin American countries are like-minded good friends and partners marching forward hand in hand.
"The 'Chinese Dream' and the 'Latin American Dream' are closely linked. Both sides should take the courage to pursue the dream and jointly make the dream come true," Xi has said.■