By H.E. Yan Jiarong, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China to the Commonwealth of The Bahamas

On the evening of November 14, 2024, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Peruvian President Dina Boluarte attended the inauguration ceremony of Chancay Port. The two Presidents gave the order, “Open the port!” Two container ships, the COSCO Shipping Peru and the Xin hanghai, began offloading and loading operations. The COSCO Tengfei vessel whistled and set sail. 

The Chancay Port, located 80 kilometers north of Lima, Peru’s capital, stands as South America’s first smart and green port, which will become a gateway that connects land and sea, Asia and Latin America. Following its inauguration, one-way shipping time between China and Peru will be reduced to 23 days, cutting logistics costs by over 20 ercent and directly creating more than 8,000 jobs for Peru every year.

The Chancay Port is just one of the Belt and Road projects implemented by China in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). China has carried out over 200 infrastructure projects in LAC, constructing thousands of kilometers of roads, railways, light rails, and over 100 schools, hospitals, and sports venues. Additionally, nearly 100 bridges and tunnels, dozens of airports and ports, and more than 30 power facilities have been built, providing almost 1 million job opportunities locally. The trade volume of goods between China and LAC countries has increased from USD 261.39 billion in 2013 to USD 489 billion in 2023. China has established approximately 180 sister-city relationships with 17 LAC countries, and the number of Chinese and LAC students studying abroad in each other’s countries has continued to rise. For The Bahamas, China’s Hunan Province and the Grand Bahama have entered into a sister Province-Island relationship. In the coming year of 2025, China will provide more than 50 scholarships for Bahamian students to go to China for a bachelor’s degree or above.

These fruitful achievements can be traced back to 10 years ago when President Xi first put forward the initiative of building a China-LAC community with a shared future at the LAC Countries Leaders’ Meeting in Brazil. Ever since then, both sides have been moving even closer to each other.

Ten years later, in November 2024, at the invitation of Peruvian President Boluarte and Brazilian President Lula, Chinese President Xi Jinping made his sixth visit to the LAC region, with state visits to both nations and attendance of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting and the G20 Summit.

At the G20 Summit, President Xi said, “If China can make it, other developing countries can make it too. This is what China’s battle against poverty says to the world.” President Xi presented eight actions by China to support global development and stressed that China will always be a member of the Global South, a reliable long-term partner of fellow developing countries, and a doer and go-getter working for the cause of global development. China will go hand in hand with fellow developing countries toward modernization. 

As a LAC proverb goes, a real friend is someone who is able to touch your heart from the other side of the world. China is a true friend to LAC countries, and the more interactions there are, the more LAC people can feel this. 

The whistle of the COSCO Tengfei vessel also signaled the start of a new voyage for the China-LAC relationship. The big ship of the China-LAC community with a shared future will carry even more dreams and hopes toward an even brighter decade ahead.