Policy Coordination between China and Latin American Countries under the Framework of the Belt and Road Initiative

Latin American countries were not a part of the earlier draft of the route map of China’s Belt and Road initiative. Through efforts of both sides, starting from the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in May 2017, Latin America has become an indispensable and important participant of the ‘Belt and Road’ initiative. In view of the differences in history and objective circumstances between China and Latin America in terms of histories, cultures, current economic states and development needs etc., policy coordination plays a fundamental role in the China-Latin America cooperation under the framework of the Belt and Road initiative. This article explores the four aspects of policy coordination in the BRI context, namely historical background, philosophy, principle and objective. The article notes that the weight of the US, EU and Japan in the global economy is decreasing, and the number of contradictions in the national economies of these countries, on the contrary, is growing. At the same time, the aggregate economic weight of developing countries is increasing. This new paradigm of development of the world economy gives a chance to developing countries, namely China and Latin America, to deepen economic cooperation. China has already become the second largest trading partner and the third largest source of investment for Latin American countries. China also proposes a solution based on its own Chinese experience, which will allow countries from Latin America to further accelerate their economic growth through infrastructure cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative. The basic principles of such cooperation are win-win cooperation, shared growth through discussion and collaboration and the essence of policy coordination, etc. It is believed that, on the premise of a high degree of consensus achieved through policy coordination, both China and Latin America will achieve sustainable and efficient cooperation and development under the framework of the Belt and Road initiative.