Quietly Vying with US, China Boosts Trade, Investments in Latin America – By Ralph Jennings (VOA News) / Oct 1 2021
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA — China now leads the world in trade with Africa and in direct investment in parts of Asia, but despite rapidly increasing its trade and investments with Latin America it still lags behind the United States with no immediate chance of displacing it.
Latin America stands out from other regions where China has invested due to its more protectionist government policies plus a long legacy of U.S. economic involvement that’s less obvious in other parts of the world, analysts say.
Data show that “China has become an emerging investment partner for Latin America, but it does not appear to be an immediate threat to traditional investors in the region,” the Boston University Global Development Policy Center said in a study earlier this year.
This week, a group of U.S. government officials is in Latin America scouting infrastructure projects for the Group of 7’s plan for the group’s “Build Back Better World,” which was announced in June and seen as an alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative building infrastructure projects in the developing world. The Group of 7, or G-7, comprises wealthy, highly industrialized nations.
