China strengthens Latin American ties
CHINESE President Xi Jinping pledged yesterday $250 billion (R3 trillion) in investment in Latin America over the next 10 years as part of a drive to boost resourcehungry China’s influence in a region long dominated by the US.
Leaders of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States – a 33-country bloc that does not include the US or Canada – gathered in Beijing for the first time for a two-day forum yesterday.
Xi said two-way trade between China and Latin America was expected to rise to $500bn in 10 years. “This meeting will… give the world a positive signal about deepening cooperation between China and Latin America and have an important and far-reaching impact on promoting southsouth co-operation.”
China and Latin America were co-operating on energy, infrastructure construction, agriculture, manufacturing and technological innovation, Xi said.
Deng Yuwen, a Beijing-based political analyst, said China was interested in the region’s resources and markets.
“Obviously, China has the intention to compete with the US for a greater sphere of influence in the region,” Deng said. “But whether this strategy will weaken US influence now is hard to judge.”
Matt Ferchen, the resident scholar at the CarnegieTsinghua Center for Global Policy, said China’s push would not alarm Washington with improving US-Cuba ties set to boost US influence.
“The reality of economicsocial ties, people-to-people ties, between any country in the region and the US are so much deeper than anything that exists with China,” Ferchen said. “The Cuba deal changes everything in terms of how the US can set a positive agenda in the region.”
China is buying oil from Venezuela, copper from Peru and Chile, and soya beans from Argentina and Brazil.
In return, China has invested billions of dollars.
On Wednesday, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said he had secured more than $20bn in investment from China, while Ecuador said it had obtained a total of $7.53bn in credit lines and loans from China. – Reuters