President Xi Jinping heralded the dawn of a new "golden era" for Latin America during a visit to Mexico and urged the region to hitch its economic development to China's solid growth.
"New contact with the region, so full of hope and dynamism, makes me convinced Latin America has unbeatable conditions favouring its development," the Chinese leader told Mexico's Senate on Wednesday, the second day of his visit.
Xi's is the first state visit of President Enrique Pena Nieto's six-month-old government, which hailed it as giving "new impetus" to bilateral ties after they passed through a cool phase.
Xi highlighted that he and Pena Nieto had upgraded ties to what he called a "comprehensive strategic partnership".
"By doing this, we send a strong message to the international community that China and Mexico will form a common front to face various challenges in the future," Xi said. "The relationship between China and the region is now at an important stage of accelerated development."
In recent years China has expanded trade and investment ties with Latin America as the world's second-biggest economy taps into the region's mineral and oil wealth to fuel its growth.