China, Caribbean countries call for cooperation in emerging sectors

HAIKOU, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- China and Caribbean countries expressed their hope to deepen cooperation in emerging sectors during the Ministerial Conference of the Fourth China-Caribbean Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum.

The three-day meeting, which concluded on Saturday, took place in south China's island province of Hainan. It centered on emerging sectors and discussed the new opportunities and patterns that green, low-carbon development and digital technologies have brought to China-Caribbean cooperation.

"Over the past 20 years, China-Caribbean trade has grown at an average annual rate of 13 percent, which is 3 percentage points higher than China's overall foreign trade growth during the same period," said Wang Shouwen, Vice Minister of Commerce.

Wang expressed China's willingness to encourage and support its enterprises, which are equipped with world-class technologies in sectors such as 5G communications, artificial intelligence and pollution control, to explore new opportunities for cooperation with Caribbean countries.

A joint statement was issued at the meeting, highlighting the shared objective of expanding China-Caribbean trade. It emphasized enhanced trade facilitation and liberalization, with a focus on strengthening cooperation in areas like animal and plant inspection and quarantine, health care and tourism, as well as mutual investment in sectors such as food production, green development, digital economy and blue economy.

Established in 2004, the China-Caribbean Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum has served as the highest-level economic and trade dialogue mechanism between the governments of China and Caribbean countries. Over the past 20 years, the forum has facilitated fruitful cooperation in areas such as trade, investment, human resources and health care. ■