China and CELAC hold Fourth Ministerial Meeting in Beijing, adopt "Beijing Declaration"

In May 2025, the fourth Ministerial Meeting of the China-Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) Forum was held in Beijing, where foreign ministers from both sides adopted the "Beijing Declaration" as a cooperation framework for the coming years.

According to official figures cited during the forum, trade between China and Latin America and the Caribbean reached a historic high of $518.47 billion in 2024, up 6% year-on-year. Between 2005 and 2024, China's cumulative investment in the region exceeded $160 billion, concentrated mainly in energy, mining, infrastructure, and telecommunications.

During the same period, notable bilateral trade developments took place in the region: the China-Ecuador Free Trade Agreement took effect in May 2024, China and Honduras signed an early harvest arrangement, and negotiations to upgrade the China-Peru Free Trade Agreement were substantially concluded.

The forum also served as a lead-up to other planned regional gatherings, such as COP30 in Belém, Brazil (November 2025), and the Second International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development in Cartagena, Colombia (February 2026).

Sources: China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China's Ministry of Commerce (Free Trade Zone Service Network).