Since its inception in 1961, China's Latin American research has begun to flourish and is currently in a critical period of transition from "scale expansion" to "quality leap". Faced with the unprecedented changes in the world, we urgently need to transform the paradigm of knowledge production, uphold the concept of "based in China, observing Latin America, and engaging in dialogue with the world", and accelerate the construction of a theoretical system for Latin American studies with Chinese characteristics. The development status of China Latin America research over the past 60 years highlights a significant characteristic of China Latin America research, which is its rapid expansion in scale. With the rise of China and the increasingly close relationship between China and Latin America, there has been a surge in China Latin America research. As of February 2025, the number of Latin American research institutions has surged from 6 in 2000 to 80. Among them, there are 12 institutions focusing on country specific research, and 6 institutions focusing on sub regions such as the Caribbean and Andes. In addition, there are some institutions dedicated to research in professional fields such as civilization and culture, dance arts, law, transportation, technological innovation, and cultural exchange. From a geographical distribution perspective, these research institutions are located in 19 provinces, municipalities directly under the central government, and the Macao Special Administrative Region across the country. Among them, there are 29 in Beijing, 8 in Shanghai, 6 in Shandong, 5 in Guangdong, and 4 each in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. This distribution reflects both the breadth and diversity of current cooperation between China and Latin America, as well as the dual driving characteristics of politics and economy and trade. The surge of Latin American research institutions is closely related to the rapid development of the Western Portuguese language profession. By the end of 2024, the number of higher education institutions offering undergraduate programs in Western Portuguese language in China has expanded from 12 and 4 in 2000 to 104 and 43, respectively. The flourishing development of the Western Portuguese major has injected new vitality into China's Latin American studies on one hand, and provided a continuous stream of reserve talents for the development and growth of Latin American studies on the other hand. Since 2000, 95% of newly established Latin American research institutions in China have been concentrated in universities, with teachers specializing in Western Portuguese becoming the natural backbone of Latin American research. According to statistics, the number of personnel engaged in Latin American related research in China has increased from less than 100 in 2000 to over 1000 currently, with the majority being born in the 1980s and 1990s. The new generation of Latin American studies has a relatively superior academic background. Most of them have received formal academic training, hold doctoral degrees, and have diverse disciplinary backgrounds; Proficient in English and Spanish or Portuguese, able to independently engage in international academic exchanges; Rich in academic potential, many people have had the experience of studying or living in Western Portuguese speaking countries before officially starting Latin American studies. In summary, compared to the older generation of scholars, the new generation has superior academic conditions. However, they also face significant pressures for survival and development. On the one hand, there is the assessment pressure of "either promotion or departure", and on the other hand, there is a confusion about "how should we conduct Latin American research now". Fundamentally speaking, this overall pressure stems from the challenge of reality, that is, Chinese Latin American research has distinct characteristics of the times and policy orientation, and the knowledge production paradigm of "appropriation" can no longer meet the development requirements of the new era. The upcoming paradigm revolution in China Latin America research has not only achieved visible breakthroughs in "quantity", but is also undergoing a "quiet revolution" in "quality". Knowledge transplantation "was the original form of Chinese Latin American research in the early 1960s and late 1970s. During this period, researchers were more like "knowledge porters", mainly responsible for inputting and disseminating existing knowledge from abroad. Their research independence and innovation were relatively weak, and their typical manifestations were mainly reflected in the following aspects. One is the one-way input of knowledge. Due to external constraints, researchers mainly rely on external data to understand Latin America, and the so-called "research" mainly refers to the "introduction" and "transplantation" of existing knowledge, lacking independent analysis. Secondly, it has a strong political color. The Cold War pattern has influenced the perspective of academic research, with research topics tending towards revolution and anti imperialist and anti colonial narratives, which have a strong political color. Thirdly, the research methods mainly rely on compilation and data organization. Researchers are more responsible for information transmission and knowledge dissemination, lacking analytical methods. The prominent feature of the early 1980s and late 1990s was the "theoretical transplantation". During this period, although China's Latin American research broke away from the initial stage of information accumulation and began to use disciplinary methods, it mainly relied on Western theories and frameworks to analyze Latin American reality, with insufficient originality. Its typical manifestations are mainly reflected in the following aspects. One is to introduce Western social science theories as research tools. In the 1980s, the development theory and democratization theory prevalent in the West were introduced by the Chinese academic community to explain the political, economic, and social development of Latin America. The second is to establish diverse disciplinary methods. China Latin America research is gradually breaking through the previous single political perspective, introducing methods from disciplines such as sociology, economics, and international relations, and beginning to develop towards a more systematic and theoretical direction. Thirdly, the research content is more diverse. This change indicates that researchers are gradually moving away from traditional political narratives and focusing on broader socio-economic development issues, in order to view the Latin American region from a more comprehensive and objective perspective. The fourth issue is insufficient originality in theory. Compared to the previous stage, although Chinese Latin American studies are more specialized, the dependence on Western theories has led to insufficient theoretical innovation. Entering the 21st century, China's Latin American studies have entered a new stage of exploring the localization of knowledge. This change not only stems from the limitations of Western theories in explaining the reality of Latin America to China, but also from the enlightenment of the "Chinese experience" in the development of Latin America. This process is manifested in the following aspects. One is the expansion of research subjects. Although research on China Latin America relations still dominates, its focus has expanded from a single political and economic domain to broader issues such as society, education, technology, and the environment. Among them, cultural exchange and mutual learning have gradually become new hotspots. The second is the integration and innovation of research methods. The methodology continues to enrich, gradually expanding from political and economic analysis to interdisciplinary and multi method research models, such as combining qualitative and quantitative analysis, and placing greater emphasis on field investigations and discoveries. The third is the practice of building an independent knowledge system. Benefiting from the strengthening of local perspectives, researchers have begun to attempt to integrate Chinese experience and perspectives into Latin American studies, and focus on exploring Latin American local knowledge and wisdom in fields and literature. For over 60 years, the construction of a theoretical system for Latin American studies with Chinese characteristics has gone through three stages of production paradigms: knowledge transfer, theoretical transfer, and exploration of knowledge localization. This paradigm shift reflects both the gradual deepening of China's academic understanding of Latin America and the continuous improvement of its research capabilities, as well as China's efforts to build an independent knowledge system. The increasingly close relationship between China and Latin America, the overall rise of new generation forces, and the rapid development of artificial intelligence technology will undoubtedly accelerate the achievement of this goal. To welcome the arrival of this moment, the Chinese Latin American academic community urgently needs to prepare for the innovation of research methods, theoretical systems, and research perspectives. Firstly, research methods need to be innovated. Looking towards the future, China Latin America research must first achieve methodological innovation and focus on interdisciplinary integration and innovation. It has two basic paths, which can be summarized as' going up to the world and down to the earth '. 'Heaven' means seeking data from the 'cloud' and fully utilizing big data and artificial intelligence to promote the integration of data and intelligence. 'Down to the ground' means' writing papers on the earth ', discovering truth and facts through field investigations and practical exploration. These two seemingly opposite yet interdependent paths are the "two treasures" of Chinese Latin American research, which can enhance the originality of research and grasp the forefront of research. Secondly, the theoretical system needs to be innovated. To have global influence in China's Latin American research, it is not only necessary to break away from dependence on Western theories and methods, but also to focus on exploring the localization of knowledge, striving to integrate China's development experience, theoretical perspectives, and policy practices into Latin American research, and build a theoretical system for Latin American research with Chinese characteristics. It includes three levels of connotation: first, the excavation of excellent traditional Chinese culture and the summary of modern development experience; Secondly, the discovery of local knowledge and wisdom in Latin America; The third is the exchange and sharing of knowledge and experience between China and Latin America. China Latin America knowledge cooperation is a part of the "Global South" knowledge cooperation, which can not only promote the research and absorption of each other's local knowledge, but also help China Latin America research move towards the goal of knowledge output. The basic path is to build a Sino Latin American academic community, promote the coordinated development of Chinese Latin American research and Latin American Chinese research, and mutually benefit each other. The "China Latin America Development Knowledge Alliance" jointly advocated by academic institutions in China and Latin America in 2023 is an active exploration and practice in this regard. Thirdly, the research perspective needs to be updated. For a long time, China's Latin American research has been based on "learning from Latin America", and its observation of Latin America is a linear "direct view", viewing Latin America as an "island" without "looking around" the global linkage embedded in it since its "discovery". As a result, what we see is a "one-sided" rather than a "multidimensional" Latin America. In terms of stance and perspective, China's Latin American studies should certainly start from China, but it is necessary to place Latin America as the object of observation in a broader perspective, with both a "Latin American" view and a "world" view. This perspective inherently includes updating the perspective of observing Latin America, and naturally involves building an independent knowledge system for Chinese Latin American studies to engage in dialogue with the world. 2025 marks the 10th anniversary of the operation of the overall cooperation mechanism between China and Latin America, and China Latin America relations have reached a new critical moment. The next 10 years will be a critical window period for China's Latin American research to enter a paradigm shift. Only by systematically reconstructing the knowledge production mode can China Latin America research form an academic system with both Chinese characteristics and global explanatory power, providing regional and national research models for the construction of the "three major systems" of philosophy and social sciences with Chinese characteristics in the new era. Author: Guo Cunhai (Researcher at the Institute of Latin American Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)