Latin American people are anticipating Chinese President Hu Jintao's upcoming visits to Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Cuba, ambassadors of the four countries to China told Xinhua recently.

Chinese Foreign Ministry previously announced that President Hu will pay state visits to the above-mentioned Latin American nations from Nov. 11 to 23 at the invitation of Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula Da Silva, Argentine President Nestor Kirchner, Chilean President Ricardo Lagos Escobar, and Fidel Castro Ruz, president of Cuban Council of State and Council of Ministers.

During the trip, Hu will also attend the 12th Economic Leaders' Meeting of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), which will be held in Santiago, capital of Chile.

This year is the 30th anniversary of the establishment of Brazil-China diplomatic ties, so Hu's tour to Brazil is of great importance, said Brazilian Ambassador to China Luiz Augusto de Castro Neves.

As two major developing countries in the world, Brazil and China share similar opinions on many international issues, he said, noting both of them attach great importance to relations with the other.

In June, Argentina's president paid a successful state visit to China, said Argentine Ambassador to China Juan Carlos Morelli, expressing his belief that Hu's visit will enhance the mutual understanding and trust between the two countries.

Chile and China have kept good cooperation in politics, economy, trade and culture since their establishment of diplomatic ties 34 years ago, said Chile Ambassador to China Pablo Cabrera.

Hu's visit will definitely boost the all-round cooperation between the two countries and deepen the friendship between the two peoples, he said.

Cuba and China share extensive consensus on a number of major international issues, with exchanges in politics, economy and trade, culture, science and technology, and sports enhanced in recent years, said Cuban Ambassador to China Alberto Rodriguez Arufe.

The four ambassadors all expressed their countries' expectation to expand cooperation with China in economy and trade.

In 2003, Brazil-China trade volume was 7.99 billion US dollars, up 78.7 percent, said Luiz Augusto de Castro Neves, underscoring bilateral cooperation in the aviation industry and satellite manufacture.

Argentina would like to enhance cooperation with China in energy, Morelli said. He said that Argentina welcomes more Chinese petroleum enterprises to invest in the country. The bilateral trade volume hit 3.176 billion US dollars in 2003, a yearly rise of 122.9 percent.

Both Chile and China are member economies of APEC so Chile expects to sign a free trade agreement with China, said Cabrera. Currently, China is the largest importer of Chilean copper. The two countries also formed a mixed committee on mining.

Cuba and China could enhance cooperation in bio-technology, telecommunications, mining and petroleum, said Arufe.

All four ambassadors hoped to further promote tourist cooperation with China and launch non-stop flights to China at an early date.

Source: Xinhua