Twenty foreign ministers will attend the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC)'s first ministerial meeting in Beijing from Jan. 8-9, the Global Times reported.
According to Zhu Qingqiao, director-general for the Department of Latin America and Caribbean Affairs at the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the ministerial meeting aims to promote political, commercial, economic, cultural and social exchanges among the CELAC's member countries.
"This meeting means the vision of Forum of China and CELAC has been translated into reality," the director-general said.
China is the second largest trading partner of Latin America and the Caribbean, Zhu added.
With the theme "New Platform, New Starting Point, New Opportunities; Jointly Promoting the China-Latin America and the Caribbean Strategic Partnership," the meeting will also be attended by the representatives from the UN economic commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Bank of America and the Development Bank of Latin America.
Meanwhile, the opening ceremony on Jan. 08 will be attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Costa Rica President Luis Guillermo Solis, Ecuador President Rafael Correa Delgado, Bahamas Prime Minister Perry Christie and Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro Moros.
CELAC has 33 member countries, including all South American countries and some Caribbean states including Mexico. It was established in Caracas, Venezuela, in Dec. 2011. Currently, Costa Rica holds the CELAC rotating chairmanship. It was announced that Ecuador will be the next in line for chairmanship. Costa Rica, Ecuador, Cuba and the Bahamas make up the CELAC Quartet.
The two-day ministerial meeting will be spearheaded by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Costa Rican counterpart Manuel Gonzalez Sanz, the Global Times added.