China and Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries are actively advancing preparations for the fourth ministerial meeting of the China-CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) Forum, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday.

In response to a related query, spokesperson Lin Jian said at a daily news briefing that Latin America and the Caribbean is an important part of the Global South and an active participant in and contributor to global governance. CELAC is an important platform for regional countries to strengthen solidarity and coordination in addressing global challenges.

The inaugural ministerial meeting of the China-CELAC Forum was successfully held in Beijing in January 2015, marking the official launch of the forum, Lin noted.

Over the past decade, the forum has flourished with increasingly mature mechanisms and has become an important platform for enhancing political mutual trust, aligning development strategies, and promoting people-to-people connectivity between China and LAC countries, Lin said.

It has played a positive role in bringing the China-Latin America relations onto a new stage that features equality, mutual benefit, innovation, openness, and benefits for the people, he added.

As changes of the world, of history, and of the times unfold at an unprecedented pace and uncertainties, instabilities and unpredictability in the world are notably increasing, the fourth ministerial meeting of the forum will enable the two sides to discuss development strategies, jointly address challenges, amplify the Global South's collective voice for solidarity and self-reliance, and provide stability and positive energy for a world of turbulence, Lin said.