The 1st Meeting of the Political Parties' Forum China-CELAC closed on 9 December in Beijing and adopted the 1st Meeting of the Political Parties' Forum China-CELAC Declaration, which highly praised the unique role the China-CELAC party-to-party exchanges play in promoting the development of China-CELAC relations and announced the establishment of the Political Parties' Forum China-CELAC within the framework of China-CELAC Forum, so as to promote high-level, multilateral and strategic dialogues, increase exchanges of party building and nation governance experiences, enhance mutual understanding and trust between the political parties, and push forward healthy, stable and sustainable development of China-CELAC relationship.
Song Tao, Minister of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, pointed out in his remarks delivered at the closing ceremony that the 1st Meeting of the Political Parties' Forum China-CELAC was a successful attempt to innovate the mode and enrich the content of party-to-party communication and cooperation between China and CELAC countries. He commented emphatically that the meeting had quite a number of bright spots: First, all the parties attached great importance to the event, as the forum received strong support from all the ruling parties of the participating countries and relevant Chinese departments, with many delegates being important leaders representing simultaneously the political parties, governments or parliaments. Second, the delegates were candid and straightforward, as the delegates from various parties and sectors all actively took part in the discussions, made remarks, were honest with each other, and fully showcased the principle of "Respect, Equality, Inclusiveness and Seeking Common Grounds while Keeping Differences". Third, the meeting was fruitful. The participants had conducted full exchanges on a large number of issues, reached extensive consensus, and put forward numerous forward-looking, creative and insightful suggestions of strategic importance. The Chinese side is more than ready to work hand in hand with the sister political parties of CELAC countries to make continuous efforts to optimize the Forum mechanism, improve the quality of dialogues and continuously push China-CELAC Comprehensive Partnership to new heights.
Solis, Executive Secretary of the PAIS Alliance of Ecuador, made the closing remarks as the representative of CELAC. Lopez, Chairman of the National Party and Deputy Speaker of Honduras, Nimrod, Deputy Prime Minister of Grenada, and Coelho, Vice Chairman of the Labor Party of Brazil, delivered speeches respectively. They thanked the Chinese side for its hospitality and declared that the two sides had conducted full exchanges, deepened understanding, enhanced China-CELAC political mutual trust, and took a historical step forward for China-CELAC multilateral cooperation and South-South cooperation. As development is the common concern of the two sides, further efforts should be made to enhance mutual cooperation in the infrastructures and energy sectors, and emphasis should be laid on the important goals of human resources investment and poverty reduction. Having created a brand new platform for party-to-party exchanges and cooperation, the Political Parties' Forum China-CELAC will further promote the development of China-CELAC relations.
In the past two days, the delegates of the political parties from China and CELAC countries conducted in-depth discussions and shared experiences on issues of political party building in the 21st century, economic development, the development path, poverty reduction and China-CELAC cooperation, and launched a new platform for political party cooperation, exchanges and dialogues between China and CELAC countries.
