Following President Xi Jinping’s visits to seven countries in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2013 and 2014, Premier Li Keqiang visited Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Chile in May. Li’s visit could further enhance the bilateral comprehensive cooperative partnership between China and Latin America.
 

During his visit, Li said economic and trade relations can be improved through cooperation in industrial production and infrastructure.
 

Li also emphasized the importance of enhancing cultural and humanities exchanges. In addition to well-known entrepreneurs, literary representatives, including noted Chinese writers Tie Ning, Mo Yan and Mai Jia, also came along.

The premier attended a seminar on cultural and humanities exchanges and participated in activities on bilateral interactions between civilizations. He pointed out that China-Latin America cooperation is material but, more importantly, it is also cultural.
 

He said literature, novels in particular, can have widespread influence, which can help promote understanding among different civilizations. Quoting a Latin American proverb, he said, “A ship’s strength is in its sails, and a man’s strength is in his heart.” Li expressed his hope that communication among great thinkers could be expanded.
 

Economic and trade ties between China and Latin America have developed rapidly in more than a decade. Meanwhile, the amount of cultural exchanges has also risen.
 

So far, China has signed agreements on cultural exchanges and cooperation with 19 of the 21 Latin American nations that have diplomatic relations with China and signed yearly implementation plans on cultural exchanges with 11. Based on the agreements and plans, deeper and extensive cultural exchanges will be conducted in fields of arts, media, sports, education and tourism.
 

However, cultural exchanges, especially in the humanities, have lagged behind the overall development of bilateral relations. The lack of face-to-face communication has led to insufficient mutual understanding between Chinese and Latin American people. The cultural circle in Latin America has little knowledge about the cultural achievements of China.
 

The good news is that both sides have been working hard to improve the situation. Xi highlighted the significance of mutual learning for the humanities during his visit to Brazil in 2014. The first Ministerial Meeting of the China-CELAC Forum at the beginning of 2015 designated 2016 as the Year of China-Latin America Cultural Exchange.
 

These efforts are intended to ensure that cultural and humanities exchanges reflect the close political and economic ties as well as the overall friendly nature of diplomatic relations between China and Latin America.
 

Li said both cultures have nurtured an open atmosphere that allows diverse civilizations to coexist harmoniously. It is the inclusiveness that brings great potential for exchanges in the field. And frequent cultural exchanges, in turn, will foster closer relations among people and nations.

 

Xu Shicheng is a research fellow from the Institute of Latin American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.