Xinhua News Agency President Cai Mingzhao (R) meets with Alicia Barcena, executive secretary of United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean in Santiago, capital of Chile, Nov. 21, 2016. (Xinhua/Dan Hang)

SANTIAGO, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- China's state news agency Xinhua and the United Nations (UN) Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) on Monday agreed here to deepen their cooperation.

Xinhua News Agency has maintained closer cooperation with the United Nations than many other global media organizations, and it has already signed strategic cooperation deals with over ten UN bodies, Xinhua President Cai Mingzhao said during a meeting with ECLAC's Executive Secretary Alicia Barcena.

He also briefed Barcena on the current situation of China's economic structural adjustment.

China and Latin America are far apart and the media should serve as a bridge between the two sides so as to promote their relations, Cai said.

Xinhua and the ECLAC have great potential to further their cooperation, as the former is a leading news agency and a main think tank in China, and the latter is an important UN agency in Latin America, Cai said.

For her part, Barcena said that the ECLAC attached great importance to China-Latin America relations, especially Chinese President Xi Jinping's ongoing visit to Latin America, which proves the Chinese government highly values its relations with the region.

As she sees it, China and Latin American countries have broad prospects for future development. Both face the challenges of economic structural reforms, so deepening bilateral economic and trade ties will also help the recovery of the global economy.

Barcena also expressed appreciation for Xinhua's coverage of the UN body's activities during the years, saying that her agency would maintain a close relationship with Xinhua, and was ready to further enhance their cooperation.

Headquartered in Santiago, the ECLAC is one of the five UN regional commissions. It was established in 1948 to promote socio-economic development and facilitate economic cooperation between countries in the region.

Xinhua News Agency President Cai Mingzhao (R) shakes hands with Ricardo Lagos Weber, president of the Senate of Chile in Santiago, capital of Chile, Nov. 21, 2016. (Xinhua/Dan Hang)

On Monday, Cai also met with Ricardo Lagos Weber, president of the Senate of Chile.

Cai told Lagos about the active efforts made by Xinhua News Agency in the mobile-Internet era and expressed Xinhua's commitment to offering true, objective and balanced news reporting for users around the globe,including those in Latin America.

Lagos said that Chile has long been in the forefront of developing relations with China.

He also said Chile's "three firsts" in its relationship with China, namely the first country in South America to establish diplomatic relations with China, the first one in Latin America to acknowledge China's full market economy status and the first in the region to sign a free trade agreement with China.

Besides trade and economy, Lagos added that the two sides also see great cooperative potential in the fields of education, culture and media.