Tuesday, February 6, 2018

China-Latin America Engagement Follows China-Africa Model

Global Americans posted on 2 February 2018 an analysis titled "It's Time To Think Strategically about Countering Chinese Advances in Latin America" by Evan Ellis, U.S. Army War College Strategic Studies Institute.

This analysis sets forth a pattern of Chinese engagement in Latin America and the Caribbean that is remarkably similar to China's pattern in Africa. The difference is that China took an earlier interest in Africa and pursued the continent more intensely than was the case in Latin America and the Caribbean. China-Latin America/Caribbean trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) now exceed China-Africa trade and FDI. According to IMF Direction of Trade Statistics for China in 2016, its trade with Latin America/Caribbean totaled $216 billion. In the case of Africa, it was only $151 billion in 2016. Ellis reports that Chinese companies have invested about $114 billion in Latin America and the Caribbean. The FDI figures for Africa vary, but they fall below Ellis' number for Latin America and the Caribbean. The most recent official Chinese figure for Africa is $34 billion. The US-based China Global Investment Tracker puts the total closer to $83 billion.

The fact that Latin America and the Caribbean are further along the development path than Africa probably accounts for China's higher trade and FDI engagement with Latin America and the Caribbean. But as Ellis notes, China is also stepping up its diplomacy and security interaction in the Western Hemisphere.