China becomes second largest trading partner of Latin America

BEIJING - China has become the second largest trading partner of Latin America, while Latin America is ranked the second for Chinese overseas investment, following Asia, according to China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC).

"In recent years, economic and trade co-operation between China, Latin America and Caribbean countries has been expanding extensively, with larger scale and wider scope, achieving great yields in trade, investment and project contracting," MOC spokesperson Gao Feng said at a press conference.

The State newsagency, Xinhua, quoted Gao Feng as saying: "China's trade with Latin America and Caribbean countries went up 20% year on year in the first nine months, reaching USD 228.6 billion."  www.webershandwick,cn (ATI).