Bilateral ties between Beijing and Caracas are developing at strikingly fast speed in all aspects for benefits of both

If the economic exchanges between the United States and Latin America are still much larger than trade between China and Latin America, the speed of change which characterizes the relations between China and Latin America is striking. A decade ago commerce between China and what was often referred as the US' backyard was marginal, now it is worth over $250 billion.

Within the dynamics of relations between China and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, relations between China and Brazil, Mexico and Argentina constitute intra-G 20 interactions, but when, 12 years ago, Jiang Zemin and Hugo Chavez decided to forge a strategic partnership, the two leaders gave relations between China and Venezuela special significance.