China to boost ties with Latin America

China will further strengthen its ties with Latin America, an emerging region which has balanced the global power pattern, President Hu Jintao said on Thursday.

Hu made the remarks during a meeting with visiting Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla Miranda at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

"As an important emerging power, Latin American nations have actively become involved in international affairs and powerfully pushed the global power pattern to be more balanced," Hu told Chinchilla, according to a press release issued by the Foreign Ministry.