China-Latin America Relations: Long-term Boon or Short-term Boom?

Abstract

‘The mixture of illusions, plans, hopes, and fears that arise out of [the China–Latin America] relationship are as powerful in their impact on [Latin America] as are the deals and events themselves…the greatest impact of China will come from what it leads the region to dream, and what Latin America finds when it awakens.’1 This statement, part of a recent but growing wave of academic, media, government, and business interest in China’s burgeoning economic and political relations with regions of the developing world from Latin America to Africa to Southeast Asia, captures an important but often underappreciated idea.2 Specifically, the perceptions and expectations of government and business leaders as well as everyday citizens of countries in Latin America will play a crucial role in determining the development of economic and political relations between their countries and China. For its part, China has consistently and positively characterized its expanding trade and investment relations with regions of the developing world, in particular with Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia, as ‘win–win.’3 Through official diplomacy and media outlets, China has emphasized that mutually beneficial ties with these regions are a logical outcome of relations with China, itself a developing nation. Such a win–win scenario, China contends, should thus be lauded as a natural outgrowth of ‘South–South’ interaction.4