On November 3, the 18th China-LAC Business Summit was convened in Zhengzhou, Henan Province. He Baoxiang, Vice-Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech. Laureano Ortega, Advisor to Nicaraguan President on Investment, Trade and International Cooperation; Liu Ning, the Party chief of Henan; and Ren Hongbin, Chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), also attended and addressed the summit. Wang Kai, Governor of China’s Henan, presided over the opening ceremony. More than 1,000 participants, including senior government officials from China, Latin American, and Caribbean countries, foreign diplomats in China, heads of business associations, representatives of entrepreneurs, and renowned experts and scholars, attended the event in person.

Ren briefed on the spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) in his speech, emphasizing that the CCPIT will actively implement the spirit of President Xi Jinping’s keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Fourth Ministerial Meeting of the China-CELAC Forum. The CCPIT will remain committed to hosting high-quality summits, build more cooperation platforms for the China-LAC business communities, advance China-LAC economic and trading cooperation on a larger scale, in broader areas and at higher levels, and make new contributions to promoting the building of a China-LAC community with a shared future.

Liu Jiannan,Vice Chairman of the CCPIT, presided over the plenary session of the summit and delivered a speech at the Roundtable Meeting of China-LAC trade promotion agencies and chambers of commerce. The conference released the Zhengzhou Initiative on China-LAC Business Cooperation. Enterprises from both China and Latin America and the Caribbean signed a series of cooperation programs on site, while domestic and foreign trade promotion agencies and chambers of commerce signed multiple cooperation memorandums of understanding.

The China-LAC Business Summit was initiated by the CCPIT in 2007 and has now become a flagship brand for China-LAC practical cooperation. This year’s summit is co-hosted by the CCPIT, the People's Government of Henan Province, and the People's Bank of China. Themed “Embracing Innovation and Intelligence for a Shared Future”, this event includes an opening ceremony, plenary sessions, parallel meetings, Roundtable Meeting of China-LAC trade promotion agencies and chambers of commerce, China-LAC Think Tank Cooperation Dialogue, China-LAC Business Matchmaking, image exhibitions of China and Latin American countries, as well as inspection and research activities for participating representatives.