considering the rapidly growing presence of China in Latin America economy list why this can be a good or bad development for the economic security of the US
Transcribed Image Text: United State
Textiles, apparel electronics, steel
Iron are, soy petroleum, copper, integrated circuits
134
World Regional Geography
Visualizing
The Rise of China in Latin America
DEVELOPMENT
$124.5 billion
C
hina's economic presence
in Latin America has grown
considerably since the early
2000s, especially in terms of trade.
As China's economy has expanded
2012
2000
rapidly, the Chinese government
and Chinese investors have looked
to Latin America for raw materials,
investment opportunities, and
CHINA
$5.4 billion
LAT
AMER
$7.2 billion
most importantly, as a market for its
Droducte
products.
2000
Trade with China has grown
dramatically from 2000 to 2012
igure 3-2-1). China is now the
2012
second most important trade
partner for the region, behind the
States, and recently has
surpassed the European Union.
The pattern of China's trade with
Latin America reveals much about
the region's integration into the
global economy. China imports raw
materials from some of the region's
most important exporters of raw
materials-Brazil, Chile, and Peru.
China is now the most important
destination of exports from these
countries. Argentina and Brazil ship
large quantities of soy and Peru, Chile, and
Brazil ship minerals (copper, tin, iron ore)
to China. A good part of the commodity
boom that Latin America experienced from
$131.0 billion
Jinping in 2011. Formal events where South American presidents announce agreements with Chinese cr
have become common.
of Chile). In exchange for US$500 million
CODELCO agreed to sell 55,750 metric tons
of copper per year at a fixed price over a
15-year period.
China has become an important
or expands a company, foreign direct
investment occurs. In Latin America and
the Caribbean, FDI has surged to
$153 billion, with well over half coming from
the European Union and the United States.
China's annual investment in the region
appears to be over $10 billion, but most of
that money goes to the Cayman Islands and
the British Virgin Islands for banking pur-
poses. Actual investments in productive ven-
tures amount to less than $1 billion annually, Caribbean. Like in many other places of
and those investments are strategically
targeted. Most of the investments are in eco-
nomic sectors that provide Chinese industry
with minerals and other resources they
need. Chinese companies have invested in
railways, mines, Bolivian natural gas, Venezu-
elan and Ecuadoran oil, and Peruvian and
Chilean copper mining. The Chinese state
company Minmetals signed a deal with
the largest copper producer in the world,
the Chilean state-owned mining company
CODELCO (National Copper Corporation
purchaser of primary products, mostly
from South American exporters, and a
source of competition for countries that
produce manufactured goods, mostly in
Central America, Mexico, and parts of the
2003 to 2008 is attributed to increased
Chinese demand for raw materials. China's
exports to the region, which account for
less than 10 percent of the region's imports,
are nearly all manufactured goods, mostly
garments, shoes, electronics, and other
inexpensive consumer items, although
high-tech exports have increased. These
exports pose a threat to Central American
countries, Mexico, and the Dominican
Republic, whose exports compete directly
with Chinese exports. Many of the region's
EPZS have suffered due in part to Chinese
the world, the region's economic future
will increasingly depend on the Chinese
economy.
Sources: Rhys Jenkins, "China's Global Expansion
and Latin America, Journal of Latin American Studes
42 (2010): 809-837. Economic Commission for
Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), "Direct
Investment by China in Latin America and the
Caribbean, in Foreign Direct Investment in Latin Ame
and the Caribbean (2010), 99-130 http://www.ek
org/publicaciones/xml/0/43290/ChapterD
Linvestment_by_China in Latin America and
Caribbean.pdf
competition.
Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI)
in the region has not kept pace with its
trade growth. When a foreign company or
state-owned enterprise purchases, develops,