Latin America set to play bigger role for Chinese firms

Agriculture, telecommunications and tourism will continue to be the key investment areas for Chinese companies in Latin America and play a big role in boosting China's ties with the region, leading industry experts said on Thursday.

Speaking at the sixth Latin America China Investment Forum organized by the Inter-American Development Bank in Beijing, Hans Schulz, vice-president of private sector and non-sovereign guaranteed operations at IDB, said China has stepped up the pace of its engagements, particularly in trade, resources procurement and asset diversification, during the past five years.

"The deep engagements are based on the profound belief that there exists a win-win situation with Latin America and the Caribbean. Though the engagements offer rich natural resources, they also provide a mature market with a growing middle-class population that can play a major role in the world economy," Schulz said.