General

Latin America and the Caribbean are important participants in the "Belt and Road" international cooperation. In recent years, China-Latin America economic and trade cooperation has entered the fast lane of development, showing vigorous vitality. Statistics show that China continues to maintain its status as Latin America's second largest trading partner, and bilateral trade has exceeded US$300 billion for three consecutive years. From January to September this year, the trade volume between China and Latin America reached 331.88 billion U.S. dollars, a significant year-on-year increase of 45.5%.

u3000u3000 facility connectivity——

u3000u3000Improve the level of infrastructure

u3000u3000 Jose is an orange farmer in the southern province of Chuquisaca, Bolivia. He used to go to the town of Padia to sell oranges. He had to walk the rugged mountain road and spend a day. After the completion of the Padia-El Salto road undertaken by PowerChina, the lives of local people have undergone great changes.

The Padia-El Salto highway project is part of Bolivia’s No. 6 National Highway, with an average elevation of 2,000 meters. It has undulating peaks and ridges along the way. It passes through 11 villages and connects the main cities of Bolivia, Sucre and Santa Cruz. Main line. In May of this year, highway construction overcame the difficulties of the epidemic and was successfully completed and opened to traffic. Bosnian President Arce praised: “The new highway will shorten the original 3-hour drive to 30 minutes, benefiting 300,000 residents along the route, and dozens of communities will benefit from it.”

u3000u3000 "In recent years, China's investment in Latin America and the Caribbean has increased year by year, and Chinese companies have helped Latin American countries improve the level of infrastructure construction." said Mauricio Santoro, an international relations scholar at Rio State University in Brazil.

u3000u3000According to statistics, from 2005 to 2020, China has 138 infrastructure projects in use or under construction in Latin America and the Caribbean, creating more than 600,000 local jobs. During the epidemic prevention and control period, the scale of China-Latin America's infrastructure cooperation bucked the trend, helping the local area to make up for the shortcomings of infrastructure.

u3000u3000In Brazil, China and Brazil are progressing smoothly in major projects such as energy and mining, power grids, and port dredging. China has become one of Brazil's main sources of overseas investment. Sampaio, Executive Deputy Minister of Brazil's Ministry of Infrastructure, stated that Brazil-China bilateral infrastructure cooperation has a sound foundation and strong complementarity. Brazil’s economy is currently facing challenges. Brazil is formulating new post-epidemic infrastructure plans and investment policies, hoping to attract more Chinese companies to participate in the construction of key projects in the local logistics system.

u3000u3000 On October 18, at the second "Belt and Road" Energy Ministers' Meeting, Cuba joined the "Belt and Road" energy partnership and will deepen cooperation with China in wind power development, standards and equipment manufacturing.

u3000u3000 Former Chilean ambassador to China and professor at Boston University's Paddy School of Global Studies, George He, wrote a few days ago that the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" meets the development needs of Latin America, and the construction of infrastructure and interconnection will help the region enhance its competitiveness.

u3000u3000Unblocked trade——

u3000u3000Improve production and living conditions

u3000u3000 Most of the Brazilian state of Amapá is located in the Amazon rainforest. There is no interstate highway to connect with other places. It can only rely on water and air to connect with the outside world. The local people mainly live on fishing and collecting acai berries. The continuous increase in soybean trade with China has brought huge changes to the local area. Over the past six years, the soybean planting area in the state has rapidly increased from less than 2,000 hectares to more than 20,000 hectares, and the yield has also increased to nearly 3,000 kg per hectare, which is more than the previous increase. 50%. "Soybean exports have increased our income, and our production and living conditions have improved." Local farmer Thomas said that in order to support soybean exports, the government has specially repaired roads and plans to upgrade the port.

u3000u3000 Statistics from the Brazilian Ministry of Economy show that from January to September this year, the trade volume between China and Brazil exceeded 100 billion U.S. dollars, a record high. Among them, Brazil's exports to China increased by 34.1% year-on-year. The Brazilian Central Bank pointed out in its "Focus Survey" report that the significant increase in China's domestic consumption has boosted Brazil's exports.

u3000u3000 Thanks to strong exports to China, Chile’s foreign trade has also shown an upward trend this year. In addition to the popular blueberries and cherries, Chile has been exporting citrus fruits to China since last year. The Director of Chile’s General Administration of Customs, Jose Ignacio, stated that Chile-China bilateral trade has grown rapidly, which further confirms China’s important position as Chile’s main trading partner. On October 8th, the China and Chile Customs "Authorized Operators" (AEO) mutual recognition arrangement began to be implemented. This is the first AEO mutual recognition arrangement officially implemented by China in South America. AEO companies in China and Chile will enjoy many conveniences during the customs clearance process. The time for customs clearance of goods is expected to be significantly reduced, and trade costs such as ports, insurance, and logistics will also be reduced accordingly.

u3000u3000 The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America believes that the Asian region, especially China, will become the main driving force for the growth of Latin American exports in the future. The sustained growth of economic and trade in the context of the epidemic fully reflects the tremendous resilience and potential of the economic and trade relations between the two sides.

Ernesto Kalissaya, a Bolivian social researcher, believes that the joint construction of the “Belt and Road” has played a significant role in promoting the socio-economic development of Latin America and the Caribbean. This is not only reflected in the trade activity of various countries, but also reflected in investment, Tourism and cultural communication and other fields.

  Financial intermediation--

u3000u3000 Achieve diversified financing support

u3000u3000 At the end of July this year, with the completion of the first foreign exchange settlement and sale transaction, XCMG Brazil Bank, the first overseas bank of China's manufacturing industry, officially obtained the official license of the Central Bank of Brazil and obtained the foreign exchange license. From cranes to the financial industry, XCMG Brazil realized the integration of industry and finance, and began to provide customers with the solution of "equipment manufacturing + equipment finance".

u3000u3000Since the establishment of the China-Latin America Developmental Financial Cooperation Mechanism in 2019, China and Latin American multinational policy banks have joined forces to jointly support major infrastructure cooperation projects between China and Latin America on the one hand, and on the other hand to promote cooperation in renminbi and currency financing in Latin America. In August last year, China and Argentina renewed the currency swap agreement. The Central Bank of Argentina pointed out in the communiqué that the agreement will help Argentina strengthen the financial environment to support the trade and investment between the two countries, and give Argentina stronger financial stability and deepening. The relationship between the central banks of the two countries.

u3000u3000 In July this year, Chile formally joined the AIIB. The Minister of Finance of Chile, Rodrigo Cerda, stated that most of Chile’s business activities are concentrated in the Asia-Pacific region. Joining the Asian Investment Bank provides a huge opportunity for the development of cooperation between Chile and the Asia-Pacific region, which will enable Chile to obtain important new sources of financing and participate. Interconnection projects between the Americas and Asia.

u3000u3000Reina, a professor at the Asian Studies Center of the Catholic University of Chile, believes that the joint construction of the “Belt and Road” will bring new opportunities to Latin American countries, promote regional and global investment and trade facilitation, and Latin America-China practical cooperation will surely usher in new breakthroughs.