Photo: Zhao Bentang, head of the Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs of the Foreign Ministry, addresses the seminar on China and Latin America in Nanjing. (Photo provided by people.cn)
BEIJING, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- Latin America has become the second largest destination for Chinese overseas investment following Asia with China's investment stock in Latin America exceeding 200 billion U.S. dollars.
Zhao Bentang, head of the Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs of the Foreign Ministry, made the above remarks at the recent seminar on China and Latin America.
In January this year, at the Second Ministerial Meeting of the China-CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) Forum, the two sides approved a special declaration endorsing the Belt and Road Initiative, marking the official extension of the initiative in Latin America.
So far, China has signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs) on the cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative with nine Latin American countries, including the latest MOU signed with Costa Rica on September 3.
More than 2,000 Chinese enterprises have invested in Latin America, accumulatively creating more than 1.8 million jobs, according to Zhao.
In the first half of this year, the trade volume between China and Latin America reached 145.3 billion U.S. dollars, a year-on-year increase of 21.5 percent, said Zhao.
(Edited by Hu Pingchao, hupingchao@xinhua.org)
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