In the context of a tour through China, ECLAC’s Director of the Production, Productivity and Management Division and Officer-in-Charge of its International Trade and Integration Division, Mario Cimoli, met this Thursday, November 9, with government authorities from that country and participated as the main speaker in the China-Latin America and the Caribbean International Exposition (CLAC Expo), one of the biggest business gatherings between both areas.
The official from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) – who traveled to China in representation of Alicia Bárcena, the organization’s Executive Secretary – held a meeting with Vice Minister FANG Aiquing of the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China (MOFCOM), which was also attended by GU Xueming, President of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation (CAITEC), and other high-level ministry officials.
At the meeting, Cimoli and FANG spoke about the mutual importance of the ties between ECLAC and the Asian country and commented on the possibility of holding a meeting of Ministers of Latin America and the Caribbean and China at ECLAC’s headquarters in Santiago, Chile, to foster greater cooperation on issues of trade and investment between the region and China.
On this occasion, Mario Cimoli presented Vice Minister FANG with a copy of ECLAC’s most recent institutional report, International Trade Outlook for Latin America and the Caribbean, 2017, translated into Mandarin Chinese. The Vice Minister specially thanked the Commission for its efforts to disseminate its most important publications in that language, which will undoubtedly allow for the two sides to grow closer. He also recognized ECLAC’s valuable participation as co-organizer of the CLAC Expo.
Meanwhile, at the opening event of the CLAC Expo held in the city of Zhuhai, Mario Cimoli made a presentation before an audience of more than 800 government authorities, scholars and high-level business executives from China and Latin America and the Caribbean, in which he highlighted the creation of this gathering which allows for our region’s products to be known in the Asian giant and therefore provides greater visibility. “This is clear proof of China’s policy of inclusive globalization and a growth process that is apt for all economies in their different modes of development,” he said.
Cimoli emphasized the conclusions presented in ECLAC’s report, which project 23% growth in Latin American exports to China in 2017, far above the rate forecast for shipments to other regions of the world. Furthermore, he spoke about the need to bolster multilateralism and move toward strongly integrated development processes.
“Integration between the region and China must be oriented toward the creation of inclusive globalization and supporting the 2030 Agenda and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals,” he stated.
