China's trade with Caribbean countries remained to expand at a rapid pace in the Jan-July period, with the total trade volume reaching 7.57 billion U.S. dollars, indicating an annual growth rate of 13.3 percent, said China’s ministry of commerce on Monday.
The fast expansion has reflected the tremendous vitality in China-Caribbean trade, said Lin Feng, director general of the American and Oceania Affairs Department of the ministry, at a press conference in Beijing ahead of the upcoming Ministerial Conference of the fourth China-Caribbean Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum.
Briefing media on the last data released by China Customs on the country’s trade with Caribbean countries, Lin highlighted the steady expansion of bilateral trade in recent years. In 2023 alone, the total trade volume reached 11.8 billion U.S. dollars, marking an impressive 10-fold increase over two decades.
Notably from 2018 to 2023, the bilateral trade saw an average annual rate of 10.2 percent, showcasing the resilience and vitality of economic ties between China and the Caribbean region, he added.
At the same time, Chinese enterprises have launched a diverse range of cooperation projects in the region spanning various sectors including agriculture, processing, trade and logistics, making a considerable contribution to bolstering local employment, tax revenues and export earnings, said Lin.
China-Caribbean cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has also yielded fruitful results, according to Lin.
"China's cooperation with the Caribbean region in the field of infrastructure under the BRI framework has also yielded fruitful results. By end 2023, 10 countries in the Caribbean region signed BRI cooperation documents with China. Chinese enterprises have initiated a batch of landmark projects and ‘small yet beautiful’ projects covering various sectors such as transportation, energy, housing and people’s livelihood, substantially driving local economic development,” said Lin.
Aiming to facilitate bilateral economic and trade cooperation, the Ministerial Conference of the fourth China-Caribbean Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum is set to open in south China's Hainan Province from Thursday to Saturday.