China ends the year on a 'new height' in relationships with Latin America, counting the continent's biggest economies - Brazil, Venezuela and Argentina - as its 'amigos' or friends.

Beijing has taken a "major-country diplomacy" that seeks to stabilize neighborhoods, lead economic development and put together a network of partners, analysts said.

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In late November, China's Premier Li Keqiang has signaled a shift in diplomatic approach, which seeks to turn the traditional policy of maintaining a low profile into a push for accomplishments with partner nations, befitting China's rising world role as an economic giant.

President Xi visited Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina and Cuba in July this year, while attending the BRICS summit and meeting with his Caribbean and South American counterparts.

The visits led to the signing of more than 150 cooperative agreements in mining, energy, and infrastructure worth $70 billion. The visit and deals came less than a year after Xi's first visit to Latin America as China's head of state in 2013.  Analysts said Xi's frequent visits to Latin America showed the region's preferred status in Beijing's diplomatic evaluation.

During his visit, Xi sought a "1+3+6" cooperative agreement that will raise two-way trade to $500 billion in a decade.

Xi said China's cooperation with Latin America will be driven by trade, finance and investment, and attention to six major areas: agriculture, infrastructure, energy, information technology, manufacturing, and scientific and technological innovation.

Observers said China could seek to engage the whole continent instead of individual nations because each Latin American economy is usually small, adding efforts to build big-ticket infrastructure projects, such a proposed rail link from South America to the Pacific Coast to the Atlantic Coast, will mean the approval of more than just one or two states.

TagsLatin America