China, Mercosur eye $200b trade in 2016

MENDOZA, Argentina - China and South American trading bloc Mercosur pledged here Friday to further promote economic cooperation and trade and to lift bilateral trade to $200 billion in 2016.

The target was announced in a joint statement between China and Mercosur, or the Common Market of the South, which was released during the 43rd Mercosur summit that concluded in Mercosur on Friday.

In order to achieve the goal, the two sides will continue to make concerted efforts to diversify their trade and raise the trade volumes between China and Mercosur members in a balanced manner, said the statement.

Meanwhile, China and and Mercosur agreed to facilitate two-way investments and pursue cooperation conducive to enhancing the capabilities of their respective financial institutions.

They will also boost information exchanges on laws, regulations and policies related to their economic cooperation and trade, according to the joint statement.

While vowing to step up cooperation in multilateral frameworks, the two sides expressed their worries about the impasse in the Doha round of World Trade Organization talks, and called for the continuation of negotiations.

The Doha talks should strive to produce an ambitious, comprehensive and balanced agreement that takes into account the interests and needs, especially those in the agricultural sector, of developing countries, they said in the statement.

In addition, the two sides agreed to convene a meeting of government representatives between China and Mercosur members and to organize training courses and symposiums as well as other cooperation programs so as to implement the joint statement.

They also expressed shared concern over the uncertainty and instability of the global economic situation stemming from the crises in developed economies, and pledged to jointly fight trade protectionism and guarantee the predictability of multilateral trade systems.

Established in 1991, Mercosur has four full members - Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Paraguay was not allowed to attend the Mendoza summit after its membership was suspended due to the impeachment of Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo.

Chinese Ambassador to Argentina Yin Hengmin took part in the summit on behalf of the Chinese government, marking the first time that China was invited to attend a Mercosur summit.

Yin said China's attendance in the meeting and the release of the Sino-Mercosur joint statement demonstrated a new development stage of ties between the two sides and served as a milestone in China-Latin America relations.