Many Chinese, including myself, probably have a vague idea of what Latin America looks like.

President Hu Jintao's ongoing four-nation trip to the region, which has hit headlines lately, has made the image clearer.

Commitments to forge more solid bilateral ties, made by the Chinese president and his counterparts during his visit, which has so far taken him to Brazil, Argentina and Chile and will also take him to Cuba, and a series of documents signed between the two sides, have deeply impressed me.

During the visit, Hu and his counterparts expressed their determination and wishes to push Sino-Latin American friendship to a new altitude and develop a steady, long-term and all-round relationship.

During or even before the visit, we heard messages from these countries that they expect to benefit from their commercial relationship with the world's largest developing country, which has witnessed the fastest-growing economic miracle.

The economic factor has been part of the glue that cements China's relationship with the Latin American countries.

China is Brazil's fastest-growing export market, with trade between the two countries quadrupling over the past four years.

China's imports from other countries in the continent are also booming.

The booming trade has helped Latin American countries generate trade surpluses.

With demands from China's 1.3 billion consumers growing rapidly, there is expected to be huge scope for further increases between China and this region.

Possibilities for trade with China have made it difficult for regional members to resist the alluring commercial ties with the country.

The Chinese Government is giving a lot of priority to Latin America, not just on trade but also direct investment.

Last year, about US$1.04 billion flowed into Latin America from China, accounting for 36.5 per cent of the year's total foreign investment, according to statistics from China's Ministry of Commerce. The amount is expected to rise significantly after President Hu Jintao said in Brazil that the country would invest up to US$100 billion in Latin America in 10 years.

The appreciable achievements in Sino-Latin American ties have been attributed to the common policy of both sides attaching importance to developing relations with the other and their common wish to support the other to play an active role in regional and global affairs.

Though separated by the vast Pacific Ocean and despite their different historical backgrounds, social systems, cultural traditions and natural conditions, China and Latin American countries have a lot in common.

They have mutually supported and sympathized with each other's pursuits of independence, sovereignty and national interests.

They both strive for a more reasonable international political and economic structure and have made contributions to world peace and development.

As developing countries, they face new challenges ahead in a complex and constantly changing international environment.

The deepening of globalization and the dazzling development of high technology have significantly influenced international political, economic and cultural relations, in which developing countries may possibly be marginalized without co-operating with each other.

In view of this, co-operation between China and Latin American countries is not only part of their efforts to rejuvenate themselves but also part of their efforts to try to gain a deserved share for developing nations in the wave of globalization.