Vice-President Li Yuanchao visited Argentina on Friday and pledged to advance ties and cooperation between China and the Latin American country.

During a meeting with Argentine President Cristina Fernandez, Li said the purpose of his trip was to send a message to the Argentine side that the new Chinese leadership attaches great importance to developing relations with the country.

China hopes the visit will help boost the comprehensive development of relations and good cooperation between the two countries, Li said.

Latin America and the Caribbean is an important part of the world's emerging markets, Li said. In recent years, China and Latin America have stuck to common development and promoted cooperation in various fields.

The two sides have been working on the establishment of a China-Latin America cooperation forum to push forward all-around cooperation, the vice-president said.

Argentina, an influential country in the region, has actively supported the comprehensive cooperation between China and Latin America, Li said.

China hopes Argentina will push for consensus among the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States on an earlier establishment of the forum, Li said.

Fernandez said Argentina highly values its strategic partnership with China, and hopes to establish and improve high-level dialogue mechanism between the two countries, strengthen practical cooperation on investment, economy and trade, agriculture, food industries and infrastructure.

(China Daily 05/12/2013 page2)