CICG hosts China-LAC think tank seminar in Beijing

A China-Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) think tank seminar was held in Beijing on Tuesday. Li Yafang, deputy editor-in-chief of China International Communications Group (CICG) and president of the Academy of Contemporary China and World Studies (ACCWS) under CICG, and Jorge Adalberto Santiago Pérez, head of the Department of Relations with Asia and Oceania of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Dominican Republic, attended and addressed the seminar. 

Co-hosted by the ACCWS and the Institute of International Studies and Advanced Training (IISAT) under CICG, the event centered on governance experience exchanges and promoting the Spanish edition of "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China."

Li Yafang, deputy editor-in-chief of China International Communications Group (CICG), speaks at a China-LAC think tank seminar in Beijing, Aug. 18, 2026. [Photo/CICG] 

Li said China and LAC countries are like-minded partners with a shared future. As key members of the Global South, the two sides share an extensive consensus on exploring development paths tailored to national conditions, improving governance capacity, and advancing sustainable development.

She said that both sides should deepen cultural and people-to-people exchanges, cement public support, unite Global South forces, and promote a fairer and more rational international order. She called on all parties to leverage the seminar to strengthen think tank dialogue and knowledge sharing, and to inject greater intellectual inspiration and practical momentum into the building of a China-LAC community with a shared future.

Ambassador Jorge Adalberto Santiago Pérez, head of the Department of Relations with Asia and Oceania of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Dominican Republic, speaks at a China-LAC think tank seminar, in Beijing, Aug. 18, 2026. [Photo/CICG] 

Pérez shared his country's governance practices and real-world development challenges. He said that he had previously learned about China only indirectly through books and media, and that this visit allowed him to witness China's leapfrog development achievements firsthand. He acknowledged that China has realized the development goals that developing countries eagerly strive for, and called for long-term academic exchange and joint translation and dissemination of works on governance to explore modernization paths tailored to their national conditions.

The seminar gathered 27 diplomats, experts, scholars, and media representatives from seven Spanish-speaking countries, including the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Uruguay, and Spain. They held in-depth discussions with senior and young researchers from the ACCWS.

The participants agreed that the governance model of China offers an important reference for LAC countries. Drawing on joint research and institutionalized dialogue platforms, both sides may foster an independent knowledge system tailored to the needs of the Global South, transcend the one-way Western-centric paradigm of knowledge dissemination, and diversify the practical pathways to modern governance for developing countries.

Participants take a group photo at a China-LAC think tank seminar in Beijing, Aug. 18, 2026. [Photo/CICG]