Head of a United Nations regional commission said Friday she is confident the future of cooperation between Latin America and China looks bright.

The two regions have "many" possibilities for cooperation, said Alicia Barcena, the executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), a UN regional commission to encourage economic cooperation. Barcena is in Panama City, Panama, for the two-day Summit of the Americas scheduled to open later Friday.

"Between 2000 and 2013, the exchange of goods between Latin America and China grew 22 folds, so you can imagine the magnitude" of the potential, Barcena said in an interview with Xinhua.

Trade has boomed between the two regions, making China the region's leading trade partner, ahead of Europe and the United States.

Additionally, "China is changing its strategy towards Latin America," said Barcena.

The Asian giant today considers the region as more than just a source of raw materials.

"I feel China sees Latin America as an opportunity for investment. That is what is marking a change," she said. "China is entering a new economic period, a new economic strategy. (Chinese) Premier Li Keqiang will be visiting in May and then we'll have the opportunity to hear firsthand what these transformations are."

Cooperation will also benefit a lot as the two regions have a complementary relationship, said Barcena.

"Chinese society wants to move from being a society that invests to one that consumes, and Latin America has to move from being a society that consumes to one that invests, that saves," she said.

Latin America has much to learn from China and its path towards development, Barcena insisted.

"China's great leap forward was driven by technological innovation, an industrial policy and having prioritized investment, " she said.

In Latin America, meanwhile, "we have not succeeded in rising to the level of these new technological paradigms," said Barcena. "Google and Facebook generate 600 jobs in Latin America, a region with a population of 600 million. We have to change our productive model. We have to add knowledge and innovation to productivity."

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