Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun rejected the US claim on Tuesday that China is "expanding economic influence" in Latin America, asserting that China's investment and trade cooperation in the region has never been about competing for geopolitical influence.

Guo made the remarks following an opinion article by Robert Mosbacher Jr, of the US International Development Finance Corporation, which stated that the US must leverage its strengths to compete with China in Latin America.

"I want to stress that viewing Latin America as a target for competing for influence and interfering in Latin American countries' normal cooperation with third parties is in itself a disrespect to countries in Latin America," Guo said at a regular news briefing in Beijing.

Noting that China and Latin America are natural partners sharing many similar positions and complementing each other, Guo said the China-Latin America cooperation is guided by the principle of wide consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits.

"We respect Latin American countries' wishes, meet their needs, and promote their development," he said, adding that the China-Latin America cooperation is widely supported by the Latin American people.

The spokesman added that Latin American nations, as sovereign and independent countries, have the right to choose their own development paths and partners.

"All parties should fully respect and treat Latin American countries equally, and make real contributions to their development," Guo said.