BUENOS AIRES -- US criticism of Latin America's growing ties with China is unfounded since the bilateral relationship is based on mutual interest and cooperation, Argentine political analyst Paola de Simone has said.

On Thursday, prior to embarking on a trip to five nations in Latin America and the Caribbean -- including Argentina -- US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson accused China of "using economic statecraft to pull the region into its orbit."

"Proof of that is that increasingly more countries in the region are strengthening their ties with Beijing and bolstering their own development," Simone told Xinhua in a recent interview.

The expert, who specializes in international law, said Latin America's ties with China have been diversifying, and are not merely financial and economic in nature.

"Ties with China are expanding in diverse fields, such as trade, culture and economy. Recently, our country (Argentina) succeeded in opening up the Chinese market for beef and lamb. They join wine and other goods that are cropping up in Chinese baskets," she said.

In contrast, US protectionism is making it harder for Latin American countries to export their products to the United States, the analyst said.

With China's help, "our country has been able to modernize its cargo and passenger rail system with Chinese trains," Simone said.

Following two years of contraction in 2015 and 2016, trade volume between China and Latin America and the Caribbean amounted to 247.4 billion US.dollars in the first 11 months of 2017, up 22.2 percent year-on-year.

"Ties benefit both sides, which turned out to complement one another with what each provides, from raw materials and agroindustry to investment and technology for infrastructure," said Simone.