China denied on Saturday that its cooperative contacts with Latin America and the Caribbean are aimed at gaining geopolitical clout, noting that these relationships are aimed at providing genuine advantages to the peoples involved.

According to Qiu Xiaoqi, China's Special Representative for Latin American Affairs, the history of such connections alone dispels such complaints, because the parties are committed to building a future of interactions with more shared advantages.

According to Qiu, the people of the subcontinent, not the nations that look at it "with a cold war mentality and colored glasses," are in the greatest position to express comments on the growth of ties with China.

He backed up his comments with the outcomes of the third ministerial meeting of the China-CELAC (Community of Latin American and the Caribbean States) forum, where regional leaders expressed their gratitude for Beijing's aid and partnership in recent years.

Qiu emphasized the strength of relations despite the passage of time and several difficulties, citing a trading volume of $300 billion for the second year in a row, with aspirations of exceeding $400 billion in 2021.

In response to the China-CELAC ministerial conference, the official stated that Beijing will provide financing to the area for local development initiatives, as well as 5,000 government scholarships and 3,000 training spots for young people from 2022 to 2024.