Shanghai (China), Dec 25 (EFE).- China has consolidated itself as the main trading partner for multiple Latin American countries such as Brazil or Argentina, and has increased its presence in the region with important projects like the port of Chancay (Peru), an expansion that has once again earned it new frictions with the United States. That port, inaugurated last year to connect South America and China directly, joins other initiatives such as vehicle factories in Mexico and Brazil, copper or iron mines in Chile, railway projects in Argentina, or lithium operations in the 'triangle' formed by those two countries and Bolivia. According to China's Ministry of Commerce, the Asian country's direct investment in Latin America reached $14.71 billion in 2024. Data from the National Autonomous University of Mexico shows that between 2010 and 2019, this capital inflow was almost seven times greater than in the previous decade, although the pace has slowed since the pandemic. As early as 2011, Jin Liqun, then president of China Investment Corp (CIC, a sovereign fund with assets of about 1.57 trillion yuan and the mandate to invest in foreign markets), expressed his 'optimism' about growth in Latin America and stated they would 'increase' their investment in the region, pointing specifically to opportunities in countries like Brazil, Chile, or Colombia. However, what was initially a search for new markets and fruitful investments is now seen by Washington as a 'strategic threat,' according to William Jackson, chief emerging markets economist at the British consultancy Capital Economics. In a report published this year, the analyst opines that the region could become the stage for a reenactment, this time with China as the protagonist, of the 'Monroe Doctrine,' through which the U.S. sought to reduce European influence on the American continent in the 19th century. New Roadmap This same month, Beijing published a new official roadmap for Latin America and the Caribbean, the third of its kind since 2008 and replacing the 2016 plan, in which it ensures that China and that region share 'broad development prospects.' Specifically, Chinese authorities see opportunities to work together with Latin American countries in sectors such as artificial intelligence (AI), telecommunications, renewable energy, hydrogen, mining, or mineral processing. The text also mentions the willingness to promote projects in transportation, logistics, housing, electric power, and urban development under the umbrella of China's 'Belt and Road' infrastructure initiative, to which about twenty countries in the region have adhered. Tourist initiatives are also mentioned—for months now, China has exempted visitors from Argentina, Peru, or Chile from visas—an increase in the use of local currencies in cross-border commercial transactions, and dialogue between regulators and central banks. In this regard, Argentina is also an example of China's financial role, a key creditor thanks to a currency swap agreement for the equivalent of $18.57 billion, of which a tranche of $5 billion was renewed this same year. A key market Furthermore, Latin America is, along with Southeast Asia or Africa, one of the most important alternative markets in which China is supporting its foreign trade amid the tariff war with the United States. Until November, while exports to the U.S. fell by 18%, exports to Latin American countries increased by almost 8%, to the equivalent of about $276 billion, and now represent a figure equivalent to 70% of what the world's first power buys from the Asian giant. In the last two decades, Jackson highlights, Chinese exports to Latin America have multiplied by almost eleven, mainly due to manufactured goods—and more recently, by electric vehicles in markets like Brazil—while in the opposite direction they are now 14 times higher, with prominence for four specific products: iron, copper, soy, and oil. The countries with the greatest export exposure to China are Chile, Brazil, and Peru, all of them with a share of the Asian giant of over 25% of their total foreign sales, the report points out. However, Capital Economics calls to 'not exaggerate the role of China' in trade with Latin America: 'The region exports three times more to the U.S. than to China.'
