People in Latin America are eager to find out about the rapid changes happening in China, President Guido Rodriguez of the American Panama newspaper of Panama said in Beijing Thursday.

Rodriguez is among a high-profile delegation of Latin America media, which has arrived in Beijing for a two-week visit to China.

The delegation consists of senior members of newspapers, TV channels and press groups from Panama, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and Venezuela.

Panama is yet to forge diplomatic ties with China. American Panama has the second largest circulation of all the newspapers in the country.

In a meeting with a senior Chinese press official in Beijing Thursday afternoon, Rodriguez said this is a rare opportunity for him to visit China. Though Panama and China are geographically far apart, the people from both countries share a bond.

China has scored remarkable progress since it began reforming and opening itself to the outside world in the late 1970s, Rodriguez said. "We will tell our people of our experiences in China."

The Latin American media delegation has visited the Forbidden City, the Beijing City Planning and Exhibition Hall and met with leaders of media organizations during their stay in Beijing.

Besides this capital city of China, the Latin American group will also travel to Sichuan and Chongqing in southwest China and Jiangsu Province and Shanghai municipality in east China.

The exchanges and cooperation between the media circles have become an imperative part of bilateral relations between China and Latin American countries, said Liu Yunshan, head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

The cooperation between the media circles of China and Latin American nations has born rich fruits over the past few years, Liu acknowledged. China has signed press cooperation agreements with several Latin American countries in recent years.

The cooperation between media organizations of the two sides have helped deepen mutual understanding, Liu said.

Source: Xinhua