The Latin American Symposium of the World Forum on China Studies (WFCS) was held in Buenos Aires, the capital city of Argentina during 3-4 December 2018, right after the G20 Summit. It is the fourth in the series of overseas WFCS, with the previous ones held in the U.S. (2015), South Korea (2016) and Germany (2017).

Themed on “The Belt and Road Initiative and Sino-Latin America Cooperation”, the Symposium was co-hosted by the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (SASS), the Institute of Latin American Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Consejo Argentino para las Relaciones Internacionales (CARI), National University of La Plata, and the ICBC Foundation. The Argentine Ambassador to China Diego Ramiro Guelar, the Vice Chair of the CARI Félix Peña, and the President of SASS Zhang Daogen delivered keynote speeches at the opening ceremony.

The two-day Symposium was attended by over 130 participants from both China and Latin America, of which 38 scholars exchanged their views on three major topics including China’s development: retrospection and achievements, The Belt and Road Initiative: reality and prospects, Sino-Latin America cooperation: opportunities and challenges. It is widely acknowledged that China has made significant achievements over the past four decades of Reform and Opening-up in terms of introducing foreign investment, boosting development in the private sector and reducing poverty, which sets a good example for the developing countries in Latin America. The Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China is well received by most Latin American countries. It is suggested that China should strengthen cooperation with Latin America in building infrastructure and industrial parks so as to further increase Latin America’s exports to China and other international markets.

The Symposium is the first of its kind held in Latin America, which helps to promote cultural exchange and mutual understanding between Latin American scholars and their Chinese counterparts. As suggested by one local participant, it is necessary to set up a regular dialogue mechanism through the exchange of students and scholars to and from Latin America, and take Sino-Latin American cooperation to a higher level.  (Hongyan Gu)