Chinese News Coverage of Latin America
Lessons from the rise and fall of Latin America’s middle class
来源：凤凰网 2012年08月07日
Over the past seventy years, Latin America’s middle class has experienced three phases of development: expansion, decline, and then growth. Middle class evolution stemmed from several internal and external structural changes, including industrialization, urbanization, international migration, public education, modern capitalism, and state interventions in the social and economic realm. The middle class in Latin America should still be considered an “emerging” middle class as opposed to an “established” one. We see from Latin America that political and economic development relies not only on the size of a given country’s middle class but also on its stability. Development of the middle class should be based on stable and sustainable economic growth, accompanied by appropriate public policy.
The evolution of Latin America’s middle class provides useful lessons for China. One can see that in order for the middle class to play an effective role in social stability, the government must provide a strong safety net based on citizens’ rights, deal with the insufficient distribution of resources, improve social mobility, further encourage public participation of the middle class, and strengthen the education system.
China’s communist party and Latin American political parties: not so far apart, and great friends
来源：中国网 2012年08月07日
Numbers of political party exchanges between China and Latin America have increased considerably since 1979. Exchange agendas also continue to deepen, promoting better understanding on both sides. Ongoing political cooperation and exchange is necessary to facilitate mutual development and to ensure favorable development of the international political and economic order.
VP of Xinhua Chang Longxin meets with the president of Telam
来源：温州网 2012年08月08日
During his visit to Argentina, Chang Longxin, vice president of Xinhua news agency met with Santiago Álvarez, president of Telam news agency. Both sides discussed the challenges brought about by new forms of media, as well as possibilities for cooperation. Chang pointed out that accelerated development of new media poses unprecedented challenges to traditional media. Álvarez encouraged cooperation between the two agencies.
Yang Jiechi meets CELAC “troika” delegations
On August 9, Chinese foreign minister Yang Jiechi held a meeting in Beijing with CELAC “troika” (Chile, Venezuela, and Cuba) foreign ministers. The foreign ministers exchanged views on establishment of formal diplomatic relations, furthering dialogue and cooperation, and other international and regional issues of common interest.
Invest in Venezuela, strike gold in Latin America
来源：和讯 2012年08月10日
Venezuela is one of the investment hotspots in Latin America. Venezuela is rich in natural resources, crude oil and iron ore. In terms of investment cooperation and engineering-related contracts, Venezuela has four major advantages: relative political stability, continuous and rapid economic growth, huge market potential and significant geographic advantage. However, over-protection of local labor and unpredictability and lack of transparency in public policy formation could negatively affect investment cooperation and project contracting.
Ministry of Commerce: Chinese enterprises “going out” pace accelerated,
investment in Latin America increased by 67.7%
来源：新浪 2012年08月16日
On August 16, Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokeperson, Shen Danyang, said that China experienced rapid growth in foreign investment over the past few months and that the pace of Chinese enterprise “going out” activity will only accelerate. From January to July there has been rapid growth in Chinese investment in Asia and the Americas, in particular. Investment increased by 67.7 percent to Latin America, 63.1 percent to Asia and 56.5 percent to the United States.
Hu Jintao meets with Costa Rican President Chinchilla
来源： 中国政府网 2012年08月17日
On August 16, Chinese president Hu Jintao held talks in Beijing with Costa Rican president Laura Chinchilla Miranda. During the meeting Hu said China attaches great importance to its relationship with Costa Rica and that he hope both parties will continue to develop relations through high-level diplomatic exchange, trade cooperation, cultural and scientific exchange and multilateral affairs. Laura Chinchilla expressed interest in expanding trade and investment opportunities by means of the China-Costa Rica free trade agreement.