Li addresses a comment to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos. [Photo/xinhua]

Though more Chinese literary works are translated into foreign languages, including Spanish, China’s influence in the literary field in Latin America is not big. At the seminar, only a handful of Colombian writers said they knew about Chinese literature.

"China's economic rise is catching the eye of the world. I think its culture and literature should also be open to the outside world. But the Latin American literary circle knows little about Chinese literature. So the two sides need further exchanges. There exist cultural differences but it is precisely these differences that call for exchanges," said Tie.

Zhang Yiwu, professor of Chinese language and literature at Beijing University as well as a respected cultural scholar, told a reporter from China News Service on Sunday that Li’s meeting with Chinese writers showed how much attention the government pays to cultural exchange.

According to him, the expansion abroad of Chinese literature has moved ahead well in the world of English in recent years, while the “visibility” of Chinese literature in Latin America was still poor. The Chinese government and cultural administration intend to improve the situation through this visit.

“Because of the language barrier, the influence of Chinese literature is limited. However, Mo Yan and other famous Chinese writers’ visit may bring some changes. It will be really helpful to the diffusion of Chinese literature works in these countries,” said Zhang.