Beijing, January 30 (RHC) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday congratulated the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) on its successful second summit and lauded its approval of a special statement on the establishment of a China-CELAC forum.

According to China's official news agency Xinhua, Xi congratulated Cuba's President Raul Castro and the President of Costa Rica, Laura Chinchilla on the success of the CELAC Summit and the regional organization's positive role in pushing forward regional dialogue and cooperation since its inception.

Xi said that the special statement showed Latin American and Caribbean countries had common aspirations for deepening Latin America-China cooperation.

The Chinese president emphasized that China is ready to make concerted efforts with Latin America in actively building the forum as an important platform for the development of China-Latin America comprehensive cooperative partnership.

Reviewing the sound development of friendship and cooperation between China and Latin America over the past decade, the special statement highly commends the efforts of leaders on both sides in proposing the forum and approves its establishment.