Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed growing ties with Latin America on Thursday, pledging to use his country’s economic clout to support billions of dollars in regional projects and almost double two-way trade to $500 billion over the next 10 years.

Xi held talks with officials from left-leaning nations in the Western Hemisphere a day after meeting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who said he received pledges of $20 billion in Chinese investment in his country’s beleaguered economy.