China's demand for the products of Latin America contributed to absorbing the reduction of exports in the region caused by the current global economic recession, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) said on Tuesday.

"Only China has a sustained demand of basic products, which has allowed counteracting the general reduction of the regional foreign trade," the ECLAC said in its report "Scene of Latin America and Caribbean's international insertion 2008-2009; crisis and regional cooperation places."

The ECLAC stressed China's growing role in the world economy and its strengthening economic ties with the region, saying that only China has had a sustained growth with a rate estimated to reach 8 percent this year.

"In the region we are very happy for the economic ties with China," ECLAC executive secretary Alicia Barcena said when presenting the report.

The ECLAC deepens the trade ties between China, the Asia-Pacific and the Latin America areas, said the report, which stands out the new role of the Asian economies in the world order.

It also analyzed possible cooperation and regional integration, and proposed joint actions to tackle the crisis in the sectors such as trade, infrastructure, innovations, asymmetry reduction, social cohesion, approaching to Asia-Pacific and climate change.

The ECLAC said that Latin America's exports would drop 11 percent this year compared with that of 2008 due to the crisis, while the imports would decrease 14 percent.

The ECLAC also said that the volume of shipping and imports would have the sharpest drop in 27 years.

The drop was caused by "the strong reduction of the international demand, the reduction of some raw material prices, the difficulties to finance the trade and the pro-cycle behavior of the trade flows," the ECLAC said.


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