China will provide Latin American and Caribbean countries with 6,000 government scholarships within the next five years, said Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday.

Xi announced the decision in his keynote speech at a summit with 11 Latin American and Caribbean leaders.

China will also invite 6,000 people to take training courses and 400 for in-service master programs in China, as well as 1,000 leaders of political parties to visit China, he said.

Moreover, China will launch in 2015 a training program that will involve 1,000 young leaders from China, Latin America and the Caribbean, he said.

The Chinese leader suggested that 2016 be designated as the "Year of Cultural Exchanges" between China and the region.

"We should promote exchanges and mutual learning to consolidate the basis for lasting friendship," he said, adding that state-to-state ties are underpinned by people-to-people amity.

China is also ready to hold inter-civilization dialogue to help people from the two sides better appreciate each other's culture and form a strong bond so that there will be greater public support for a strong bilateral relationship in the long run, said Xi.

Xi further said "enhanced coordination and cooperation between China and Latin America and the Caribbean will be of great significance for international relations to be more democratic and for the international order to be fairer."

"China stands ready to work with Latin America and the Caribbean in the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, APEC, G20, G77 and other international organizations and multilateral mechanisms to safeguard the common interests of developing countries, through better coordination and cooperation on global and hot-spot issues such as global governance, sustainable development, climate change and cyber security," he said.

He called on the two sides to increase dialogue and cooperation on regional affairs in the Asia-Pacific and Latin America and jointly contribute to peace and prosperity of both regions.

The China-Latin America summit was held during Xi's state visit to Brazil, the first leg of his four-nation tour to South America. 

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