A quantitative analysis of China’s commercial and diplomatic relations with Latin America indicates that Beijing may be engaged in a more consistent strategy to check U.S. influence than many thought.
In October 2015, Bolivia’s president, Evo Morales, announced an unprecedented expansion of financial support by and economic engagement with China. The announcement was the culmination of a growing relationship between China and Bolivia which has begun to bear fruit.
In just over a decade, China has become a global leader in development finance. China has established a number of bilateral and multilateral funds across the world, in addition to two policy banks. China has also led efforts to establish new multilateral development banks that promise to provide significant financing capabilities into the regime as well.
In 2015 China’s two development banks provided upwards of $29 billion in loans to Latin American governments with the promise of more to come. The problem is the region has no mechanism to constructively engage China to help direct and manage these funds. Here’s an idea.
Personal contacts and questionable contracts between the government and the Chinese company CAMC Engineering reveal both the problems with public procurement in Bolivia and how far Chinese companies have advanced in the country.
The recent agreement of the Trans-Pacific Partnership is about far more than trade. It’s about creating a new international regime in the Pacific that will reinforce trade rules, smooth inter-state relations and promote international harmony with China.
The World Bank annual meeting in Lima, Peru this weeks offers a unique opportunity. While China’s massive investments in infrastructure are much-needed, they come with huge risks. The World Bank can reduce those by working with these new efforts—with all their capital—to apply the Bank’s experience in protecting the environment and local communities.
Using ECLAC data, we constructed a graph tracing the past 20 years of exports from South America to China as a percentage of their total exports. In this light, it’s not surprising that those are the same four countries the Chinese premier visited last month.
While much of the media and policy attention has focused on China, Russia and Iran’s involvement in the region—often with handwringing or finger pointing—India has become a player in its own right. Unlike China, the South Asian giant’s economic interests and practices in the region are more compatible to Latin American economies and development.
The proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership is about far more than trade. It’s about creating a new international regime in the Pacific that will reinforce trade rules, smooth inter-state relations and promote international harmony with China.
