Latin American countries are expanding their economic relations during a summit hosted by the Chinese government this week.

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Latin American leaders in Beijing, including Costa Rica President Luis Guillermo Solis, Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro, Ecuador President Rafael Correa and others, and pledged to support the region with billions of dollars in investments.

According to Reuters, the Chinese president set $250 billion to help Latin America's trade for the next 10 years, but the financial figure could increase to $500 billion based on two-way trade between the region and China.

The meeting between China and several Latin American countries comes before Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) summit, a 33-country bloc scheduled to meet in Havana, Cuba, without the presence of Canada and the United States.

"This meeting will ... give the world a positive signal about deepening cooperation between China and Latin America and have an important and far-reaching impact on promoting South-South cooperation and prosperity for the world," Xi said, via Reuters, adding China and Latin America are cooperating on agriculture, energy, infrastructure construction, manufacturing and technology innovation.

Following a meeting with Maduro, the Chinese will invest $20 billion into Venezuela's economy. China has also pledged $7.5 billion in credit for Ecuador. China and Costa Rica also reached a "strategic partnership," according to Xinhua news agency. The bilateral agreement will boost cooperation on agricultural technology, clean energy, telecommunications and special economic zones construction. The partnership will also see a focus in tourism.

The Associated Press noted trade between Latin America and China increased from $10 billion in 2000 to $257 billion in 2013. According to Reuters, while China invests billions of dollars in Latin America, the country has also bought soybean from Argentina and Brazil, copper from Chile and Peru and oil from Venezuela.

The Beijing meetings come as the U.S. and Mexican officials host their High-Level Economic Dialogue (HLED) meeting this week. The HLED is an annual meeting for the U.S. and Mexico to discuss economic and trade opportunities. Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto met with President Barack Obama to discuss several issues, including economic growth, security and immigration. The HLED meeting, however, is hosted by Vice President Joe Biden and will include Obama's entire economic cabinet.

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For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.

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