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Beijing - Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged on Thursday $250bn in investment in Latin America over the next 10 years as part of a drive to boost resource-hungry China's influence in a region long dominated by the United States.
Leaders of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, or CELAC - a 33-country bloc that does not include the United States or Canada - gathered in Beijing for the first time for a two-day forum on Thursday.
Xi said two-way trade between China and Latin America was expected to rise to $500bn in 10 years.
"This meeting will ... give the world a positive signal about deepening co-operation between China and Latin America and have an important and far-reaching impact on promoting South-South co-operation and prosperity for the world," Xi said.
China and Latin America are co-operating on energy, infrastructure construction, agriculture, manufacturing and technological innovation, Xi said.
US influence to be boosted
Deng Yuwen, a Beijing-based political analyst, said China was interested in the region's resources and markets.
"Obviously, China has the intention to compete with the US for a greater sphere of influence in the region," said Deng. "But whether this strategy will weaken US influence now is hard to judge."
Matt Ferchen, resident scholar at the Carnegie-Tsinghua Centre for Global Policy, said China's push would not alarm Washington with improving US-Cuba ties set to boost US influence.
"The reality of economic-social ties, people-to-people ties, between any country in the region and the United States are so much deeper than anything that exists with China," Ferchen said.
"The Cuba deal changes everything in terms of how the United States can set a positive agenda in the region," he said.
China, the world's second-largest economy, is buying oil from Venezuela, copper from Peru and Chile, and soybean from Argentina and Brazil.
In return, China has invested billions of dollars.
On Wednesday, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said he had secured more than $20bn in investment from China, while Ecuador said it obtained a total of $7.53bn in credit lines and loans from China.
"To repeat what [former] President Hugo Chavez said, China is demonstrating to the world that a country does not necessarily seek hegemony as it grows stronger," Maduro said in a speech.
The co-operation comes despite some in the region retaining diplomatic ties with Taiwan, which China regards as a renegade province.
Out of 22 states that recognise Taiwan, 12 of them are in Latin America and the Caribbean.
