Tsinghua University Hosts 4th Gathering of Latin American and Caribbean Ambassadors to China
On June 18th, the 4th Latin American and Caribbean Ambassadors to China Gathering Tsinghua with the theme of “China’s Overseas Investment and the Opening and Development of Latin America and the Caribbean” was held in Jianhua Building of Tsinghua University. Tsinghua University President Li Luming, Head of the Latin American and Caribbean Mission and Ambassador of Uruguay to China Fernando Lugris, and Director of the Department of Latin American Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Cai Wei attended the event and delivered opening remarks. Tsinghua University Vice President Yang Bin delivered the closing remarks. More than 30 ambassadors and representatives from embassies and representative offices of 17 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean attended the event.
Li Luming welcomed and thanked the guests. He pointed out that this year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the China-Latin America Forum. Over the past 10 years, China and Latin America and the Caribbean have cooperated closely and achieved fruitful results in various fields, especially in the investment in new infrastructure construction, which reflects the responsibility and commitment of both sides to jointly respond to global climate change and promote sustainable development. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, and it is also a key year for Tsinghua University to implement the strategic deployment of building a strong country in education and comprehensively promote high-quality development. The school supports the construction of a strong country in education with talents, technology, and innovative services, adheres to open education, and initiates the “Joint Action for International Cooperation on Climate Change and Carbon Neutrality”, continuously expands cooperation with global partners in public health, artificial intelligence governance, and digital transformation of education, and relies on the Latin American Center to continue to deepen exchanges with Latin American and Caribbean countries. I hope that in this dialogue, everyone can actively share wisdom and experience, enhance understanding, expand consensus, promote China-Latin America friendly cooperation, and move forward hand in hand in the process of building a community with a shared future for mankind.
Fernando Lugris said in his speech that this year is the fourth year that the Latin American and Caribbean delegations have gathered at Tsinghua University, and this good tradition should be maintained. He shared China’s key role in the sustainable development of Latin America and the Caribbean, and said that China is an important partner of Uruguay in trade, finance and investment. He hopes that China and Latin American countries will enhance dialogue, strengthen trade exchanges, and make higher-quality investments in more areas of Latin American countries.
Cai Wei said in his speech that although China and Latin American and Caribbean countries are far apart, they have broad common interests and always support each other. He hopes to further deepen the dialogue between the academic circles and think tanks of China and Latin America, strengthen exchanges and mutual learning in the fields of scientific and technological innovation, poverty alleviation, digital economy, etc., and continuously enhance the traditional friendship and people’s well-being of the two sides. China is willing to work with Latin American and Caribbean countries to promote openness and inclusiveness, abandon small courtyards and high walls, and promote common development.
Liao Ying, Director of the Student Global Competence Development Guidance Center of Tsinghua University, introduced the mission and responsibilities of the Student Global Competence Development Guidance Center, as well as the measures taken in recent years to train Tsinghua students overseas and enhance their global competence. Chen Taotao, Director of the Latin American Center of Tsinghua University, introduced the China-Latin America Youth Responding to Global Challenges-2024 Poverty Reduction Camp Project and its background, measures and initial results. Subsequently, Chen Taotao explained the scale, current situation and future development of China’s overseas investment in Latin America and the Caribbean with the theme of “Chinese Investment and the Opening and Development of Host Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean”.
During the roundtable discussion, Fernando Lugris and Chen Taotao had in-depth discussions and exchanges on the current topics with ambassadors and diplomatic envoys from Ecuador, Mexico, Suriname, Barbados, Uruguay, Brazil, Jamaica, El Salvador and other countries.
The participating ambassadors agreed that this event was very meaningful and enhanced their understanding of how China’s investment in Latin American and Caribbean countries can promote regional development. The ambassadors highly appreciated China’s efforts in promoting overseas investment in Latin America and the Caribbean and promoting regional openness and development. They hoped that China would invest in more areas in Latin American and Caribbean countries to help local development, and looked forward to strengthening trade and financing cooperation with China in the future to jointly promote economic prosperity and progress in Latin America and the Caribbean. At the same time, the ambassadors and envoys also expressed their sincere desire to carry out exchanges and cooperation in various aspects with Tsinghua University.
In his closing speech, Yang Bin said that the Tsinghua University Latin American Center will continue to build bridges between China and Latin America and create a platform for promoting balanced, coordinated and inclusive development on a global scale. He believed that this event will promote more pragmatic cooperation between the two sides on important issues related to their common future, such as economic development, youth empowerment, artificial intelligence, and online education.
Other guests attending the event included Briunny Garabito, Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to China, Hallam Henry, Ambassador of Barbados to China, Marcos Galvão, Ambassador of Brazil to China, Mauricio Hurtado, Ambassador of Chile to China, Michael Campbell, Ambassador of Nicaragua to China, María Soledad Córdova, Ambassador of Jamaica to China, Arthur Williams, Ambassador of Argentina to China, Marcelo Suarez Salvia, Permanent Representative of the Haitian Trade Development Office, Dwinel Bélizaire, and representatives from Guyana, Cuba, Panama, Colombia, Mexico, Suriname, Antigua and Barbuda, etc. The event was hosted by Xiao Qian, Deputy Director of the International Cooperation and Exchange Office of Tsinghua University, and Dong Yu, Executive Director of the Latin American Center.
The event was hosted by Tsinghua University and co-organized by Tsinghua University Latin America Center, Global Joint Development Institute, Student Global Competency Development Guidance Center, and School of Economics and Management China-Latin America Management Research Center. Nearly 100 teachers and students from various schools and departments of the university attended the event.