Inversión Extranjera Directa de China en América Latina y el Caribe, aspectos metodológicos y tendencias durante 2001-2016

Abstract

The article studies, at the methodological and empirical level, the behavior of China's fdi in Latin America and the Caribbean (lac). In the first part, the oecd directional approach is discussed, because its implementation is crucial for improving global fdi statistics. The approach suggests, among other things, the exclusion of Special Purpose Entities from fdi statistics, since their inclusion distorts the amount, origin and destination of the investment. The issue is crucial to China, because its companies usually direct their investments through third countries. The paper highlights the need to adequately distinguish fdi from other capital flows. In the empirical part, the methodology and trends of Chinese fdi in lac are presented for the period 2001-2016, based on the database of Dussel Peters and Ortiz Velásquez (2017). The results show a high concentration of Chinese fdi in Brazil, Peru and Argentina. The main motivation of Chinese fdi continues to be the securing of raw materials. In addition, Chinese companies have increased their presence in the region through by acquiring or merging with large local enterprises, therefore their contribution to the expansion of the capital stock and employment is limited. Since 2010, China's fdi in infrastructure has grown, if this trend continues, China could contribute to reduce the regional trade imbalances and it could contribute to raise the low regional infrastructure investment ratio.