On March 1, 2005, ILAS co-organized the first CASS
International Forum with the Bureau of International Cooperation at CASS.
Its topic was on Latin American Situation in 2004～2005. Several high-level officials, including Mr. Cheng Siwei, Vice Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference; Mr. Li Shenming, Vice President of CASS; Mr. Cai Wu, Deputy Director of the
International Department of the Central Committee of CPC; Qiu Yuanping, Deputy Director of the Foreign Affairs Office of CCCPC; and Yang Wanming, Deputy Director of the Department of Latin America and the Caribbean at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, attended the opening ceremony and gave important and informative speeches. They all expressed the hope that, given the importance of Latin America in the world in both political and economic areas, Sino-Latin American relations will develop further. Ambassadors from Argentina, Chile, Cuba and Mexico offered an up-to-date introduction to the situations in their own
countries. LAS scholars presented their views on four topics of the current situations in Latin America: political stability, economic growth, international relations and social issues.Judging from the key-note speeches and discussions at the conference, it was agreed that, on the whole, Latin America's political situation is stable, but a few countries and sub-regions were caught in instability. With the impetus of the external factors, such as the strong performance of the American and Chinese economy, Latin America witnessed a very high growth rate in 2004. However, several structural problems still exist. In 2004 Latin America's relations with the rest of the world were developing smoothly and Sino-Latin American relations have entered a new stage of development with the visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao. In the social areas Latin America is still burned with many challenges and problems. Countries of the region are faced with an imperative task of dealing properly with the relationship between pursuing economic growth and building a harmonious society.