China-LAC cooperation does not target anyone: FM

BEIJING - The cooperation between China and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) does not target or seek to replace anyone, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Thursday.

"China will not move anyone's 'cheese,'" Wang said on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People's Congress. "China and LAC are helping and supporting each other as fellow developing countries."

Wang said China's cooperation with the region has grown rapidly because it suits the needs of the LAC nations, helps improve the livelihoods of their people, and boosts the LAC nations' capacity for self-driven growth.

During the last five years, President Xi Jinping has visited ten Latin American nations. "Our cooperation has been deepened, expanded and upgraded," Wang said.

China has become a key trading partner of many LAC countries and Chinese businesses and investors have created more than 1.8 million local jobs.

When describing China-LAC relations, Wang cited a Chinese proverb: "Nothing not even mountains or oceans can separate those with a shared goal".