SHANGHAI, China – The Caribbean’s six resident ambassadors to China have formed a caucus in Beijing, as regional representatives here continue to band together to explore ways of strengthening the Sino/Caribbean relationship.

The announcement was made by Jamaica’s Ambassador to China, Wayne McCook, during an April 20th dinner hosted by the Caribbean Association in China (CAC).

“When the (initial) idea of (forming) the Jamaican Association came, and then (the final decision of expanding the group to become) the Caribbean Association, I told my colleagues in Beijing,” McCook said.

He was making brief remarks to officially welcome guests at the Friday evening dinner, billed ‘Caribbean Nite’.

“We have six resident embassies in Beijing: Bahamas, Guyana, Grenada, Jamaica, Dominica and Suriname. We have now, not incidentally, but coincidentally,” the ambassador added with a laugh at his play with words, “created a caucus of Caribbean Embassies in Beijing to explore common interests in the Caribbean relationship with China”.

This Asian super power, a developing country, has the fourth largest economy in the world. It recorded 10.9 per cent growth in 2006 and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted 10 per cent growth this year. The IMF forecast is in line with those of the Chinese government which, fearing that the economy may overheat (it grew by 11.1 per cent in the first quarter of this year), has rolled out a raft of contractionary fiscal measures aimed at cooling it down.

Commercial banks’ reserve rates have been hiked three times since the start of the year, for example, just one of 11 such hikes planned for 2007. Efforts are also being made to curb the country’s ballooning trade surplus with the United States .

Trade figures for China and the Caribbean were not readily available, but bilateral trade between Jamaica (China’s largest regional trading partner) was at US$400 million in 2004.

During his remarks on Friday night, Ambassador McCook did not give details about the caucus he and his regional peers have formed in Beijing. However, the grouping may likely be vital in working “as a team” to boost existing regional trade ties with China.

Caribbean countries that have thrown their support behind the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME) ostensibly know the value of negotiating en bloc. However, with four of the 15 Caricom countries opting not to establish diplomatic ties with China, Caricom has not been able to formulate a cohesive policy on the issue of trade, aid and investment with the country.

The majority of the Caribbean Islands, adhering to the “One China” policy, have long had diplomatic relations with the mainland which, in addition to being a vital trading partner, is a source of aid and funding for major projects.

The Chinese, for example, supplied a loan for the construction of the Greenfield Cricket stadium in Trelawny, Jamaica, the site for the spectacular opening of the soon-to-be-concluded Cricket World Cup 2007. That deal was one of several inked at the February 2005 China/Caribbean Trade Fair in Kingston.

Another agreement addressed the issue of approved destination status (ADS) for Chinese nationals travelling abroad. Jamaica aside, other Caribbean countries that are now approved travel spots are Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, St Lucia and Dominica.

Dominica, one of the most recent members of the 15-member Caricom, formally established its ties with China in March 2004. Jamaica, on the other hand, will celebrate the 35th anniversary of Sino/Jamaican relationships this year.

While questions were recently raised about St Lucia’s ties with the mainland after the latest general election which saw John Compton rise to power, the island nation is still counted among Caricom countries with diplomatic relations with China. St Vincent and The Grenadines, St Kitts and Nevis, Haiti and Belize are those that have ties with Taiwan.