BEIJING, Jun 22, 2012 (CNBC) -- Mr. Erik Bethel, Managing Partner of SinoLatin Capital, the premier investment platform between China and Latin America focused on natural resources and commodities, spoke at the 2012 Mines and Money Beijing Conference, June 19-21st, 2012 at the China World Summit Wing.

The Conference hosted international mining companies to showcase their projects and production capabilities while analyzing investment opportunities in key in-demand commodities such as coal, iron ore, copper and precious metals in Beijing, China, the capital city of the world's most important natural resources buyer.

'There has been a recent fall in commodity prices during the last several months, due to fears of a slowdown in Europe. This coupled with the inevitable crash of Greece may drive commodity to fall even further. However, the fast urbanization of China and India will continue to create a strong demand boosting commodity prices in both the medium and long term,' explained Erik Bethel, Managing Partner of SinoLatin Capital.

China still has 700 million people living in rural areas, about the size of the EU and US combined, experiencing a booming growth of the middle class. This growth and rapid urbanization require mineral resources and arable land to keep up with the growing demand.

'There is a wide gap in China's production and consumption of vital resources such as oil, copper and soybeans. Latin America has what China needs with the world's largest reserves of silver (49%), copper (44%), and tin (33%), 16% of the global oil reserves and the most arable land in the world to provide for the people of China,' noted Bethel.

'Latin America has become the new frontier for China's growing commodity demands and has seen increasing amounts of Chinese investments with an increase of US$120 billion worth of imports in 2011 alone,' stated Bethel.

'We believe this is just the beginning of a long-term investing trend for China and presents tremendous opportunities for Latin America.' About SinoLatin Capital SinoLatin Capital is the premier investment platform between China and Latin America. It is a financial advisory and private equity firm focused on natural resource transactions. Headquartered in Shanghai's financial district and with offices in New York and Lima, Peru, SinoLatin Capital is the first merchant-banking firm focused exclusively on cross border transactions between China and Latin America.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/47920776/Latin_America_Has_What_China_Needs_SinoLatin_Capital_s_Managing_Partner_Erik_Bethel_Speaks_at_the_Leading_International_Mining_Investment_Event_2012_Mines_and_Money_Beijing_Conference