China stokes plans for railway in S. America

Workers assemble subway trains at a factory of CNR Changchun Railway Vehicles Co in Changchun, Jilin province, last week. The trains will be delivered to Brazil and Argentina as China boosts cooperation with Latin America in the railway sectors.[Photo/Xinhua]

Shen Yun'ao, former Chinese ambassador to Brazil and Argentina, said Latin America would continue to be one of world's top suppliers of raw materials such as ore, grain and meat, and improving the rail network will see exports soar.

The planned Peru-Brazil line, for instance, will reduce the cost of exports to China and cut delivery time by utilizing ports on the Pacific coast rather than the Atlantic, Shen said.

Economic ties with Latin America grow

Rail routes to fuel exports growth

Stressing the importance of the line's contribution to South America's regional integration, Shen also cautioned that it would be a huge project that would face a number of geographical challenges.

According to the National Association of Rail Transporters in Brazil, the country's railroad system transported 490,000 tons of materials in 2013. Coal and iron ore accounted for 75 percent of total goods.

Ken Goldstein, an economist with the Conference Board, a business research group in New York, said China's support for infrastructure development in Latin America will create a "win-win" model for all.

"It's similar to what China is doing in Africa," he said. "Helping to improve the infrastructure of the domestic economies in Latin America increases the potential market for goods and services coming out of China."

Trade volume between China and Latin America reached a record $261 billion last year, almost 21 times the figure for 2000.

In less than two decades, China has emerged as the biggest trade partner for Brazil, Chile and Peru, and is set to overtake the European Union as the region's second-largest trade partner in 2016, according to United Nation's figures.

On Thursday, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff gave Xi a red-carpet reception for his first state visit before the signing of agreements and a summit with a group of Latin American and Caribbean states known by the Spanish acronym CELAC. Xi launched the China-Latin America Forum with CELAC, a 33-nation grouping that was represented Thursday by Cuba, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Antigua and Barbuda.