The China-Latin America and Caribbean Business Summit was held in Mexico on October 13-14, 2015.

The just-concluded China-Latin America and Caribbean Business Summit held in Mexico on October 13-14 was the 2015 version of a continuing promotional platform for greater economic, business and commercial cooperation between China and those regions, focusing on promoting trade and investment.

This ninth summit featured specialized high-level speakers and was attended by over 700 Chinese, Latin American and Caribbean companies. Jointly promoted by ProMéxico and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), it comprised a wide range of activities, such as conferences, business meetings, counseling sessions, forum opportunities for Chinese investors, sample products and mechanisms to encourage business development.

Businesses sought partners, updated information and good value for the development of their initiatives.

For Mexico, it meant an opportunity to hitch the country to the big economic players in two extremely important regions (Asia and Latin America/Caribbean) and show the similarities and trends that will shape the future of the budding relationship.

The first such forum was held in 2007 and there were high expectations for the ninth one, considering the progressive positive dynamics of all the regions and individual countries involved.

Since 2007, trade between China and Latin America has seen average annual grown of 30 percent and today China is Latin America's third biggest trading partner after the United States and the European Union. Similarly, Latin American trade with China is growing faster than any other region in the world while the region seems certain to emerge as the next biggest investment destination for Chinese businesses after Asia.

Besides, Latin America and China have been getting closer at the global economic cooperation level through bilateral and multilateral ties with the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). A first ministerial meeting of the China-CELAC Forum took place last January in Beijing, following an earlier leaders' summit in Brasilia in July 2014.