Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping's current official visit to Latin American countries shows the country's will to cooperate with the region, a Mexican university professor said Thursday.

"China is a country that has the capacity to quickly translate into concrete actions its political principles," Velia Hernandez, professor from the Autonomous National University of Mexico (UNAM), told Xinhua in an interview.

Xi's visit, which came three months after China issued its first policy paper on Latin America and the Caribbean, is a proof that the country has not stopped its opening to the world and but is continuing to seek new horizons, Hernandez said.

"It is interesting to see how China has kept and applied with determination, despite the current economic and financial challenging circumstances, its guiding principles to the Latin American region," the professor added.

Hernandez said that one of those principles is that trust must exist between both sides, based on friendly collaboration, as well as on political understanding and mutual support.

"China has expressed its wish to promote cooperation with LatinAmerica on energy, finance, agriculture, infrastructure construction and high technology, among other areas. If both parties take advantage of the opportunity we can expect a more dynamic relation," Hernandez said.

It is evident that China is willing to consolidate and widen the achievements that have been reached in the commercial ties with the Latin American countries, the professor added.

Hernandez said that the Chinese-Latin American trade volume in 2008 reached 143.39 billion U.S. dollars, exceeding the 100-billion-dollar target set by Chinese President Hu Jintao during his visit to the region in 2004.

During his ongoing visit to the region, Xi has reiterated China's willingness to enhance exchanges in culture, tourism, education, sports and arts with Latin American countries, the professor noted.

"I consider it fundamental to humanize the ties between countries, to increase contacts between peoples that have different traditions, life styles and way of thinking, as what has happened between Chinese and Latin Americans," Hernandez added.

Hernandez said that China has insisted on safeguarding, through regional and international organizations, the rights and interests of the developing regions.

During Xi's tour to Latin America, he has at different forums called for an urgent creation of a world economic system to favor sustainable development, as well as fairness and efficiency in world trade, Hernandez said.

"The world today needs more than ever innovating and responsible proposals to help us to exit the mire (in the world financial field). I think the Chinese view opens a large spectrum of possibilities," Hernandez added.

Source: Xinhua