The economic successes of China and India are viewed with admiration but also with concern because of the effects that the growth of these Asian economies may have on the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region. The evidence in 'China's and India's Challenge to Latin America' indicates that certain manufacturing and service industries in some countries have been negatively affected by Chinese and Indian competition in third markets and that LAC imports from China and India have been associated with modest unemployment and adjustment costs in manufacturing industries. The book also provides substantial evidence of positive aggregate effects for LAC economies associated with China's and India's greater presence in world exports, financial flows, and innovation. Chinese and Indian growth is creating new production possibilities for LAC economies, particularly in sectors that rely on natural resources and scientific knowledge.
The last quarter of the twentieth century was a period of economic crises, increasing indebtedness as well as financial instability for Latin America and most other developing countries; in contrast, China showed amazingly high growth rates during this time and has since become the third largest economy in the world. Based on several case studies, this volume assesses how China's rise - one of the most important recent changes in the global economy - is affecting Latin America's national politics, political economy and regional and international relations. Several Latin American countries benefit from China's economic growth, and China's new role in international politics has been helpful to many leftist governments' efforts in Latin America to end the Washington Consensus. The contributors to this thought provoking volume examine these and the other causes, effects and prospects of Latin America's experiences with China's global expansion from a South - South perspective.
How an evolving relationship with China and India is changing Latin America's political and economic dynamics. In the years since China has adopted a "going global" strategy to promote its overseas investment, expand export markets, and gain much-needed access to natural resources abroad, Sino–Latin American relations have both deepened and broadened at an unexpectedly rapid pace. The main driver behind this sea change in bilateral relations has been economic complementarity, with resource-rich countries in Latin America exporting primary goods to the Asian giants' growing market and China exporting manufactured goods back into the region. In recent years, Sino–Latin American relations have matured considerably, becoming far more nuanced and multifaceted than ever before. India is a relatively new player in the region, but has slowly strengthened its ties. As one of Asia's largest markets, it offers interesting parallels to the Chinese case. Will Indo–Latin American ties follow a similar path? The main areas of growth include trade and investment, mining, energy, information technology, motor vehicle production, and pharmaceuticals. To what extent these changing dynamics will redefine Latin America's relations with India is a question of increasing relevance for policymakers. This volume offers a review of key cross-regional trends and critical policy issues involving the changing relationship between these two Asian giants and Latin America. Selected country case studies—Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico—provide a more in-depth analysisof the implications of China's and India's evolving interaction with the region.
Relations with Latin America have never been and will probably never be a priority for the People's Republic of China (PRC), as they will be a dependent variable of domestic economic needs and other more important foreign policy goals among all, the ties with the United States. During the first forty years of existence, geopolitical and economic considerations (Latin America was considered to be Washington's backyard and the economies of the region were not complementary with that of China) were keeping the PRC away from the area; nevertheless, things have changed ever since the end of the Cold War, and more so since the new millenium. The PRC finds in Latin America a market of 500 million people and an almost infinite source of commodities: it currently gets from here around 17% of its overall agricultural products imports, and 11% of its fuel and mining ones. It is a big buyer of three of the four Latin American commodities (soy, copper and oil) and it's increasing its purchases of the fourth, coffee. The region is also a valuable partner in the struggle for a new world order, more democratic and more concerned with the stakes of the developing countries; it is a 33-wide voting block whose consensus is useful whenever the human rights policy of the PRC comes under the scrutiny of the United Nations or any of its agencies. Finally, Latin America is a pawn in the battle for the sovereignty over Taiwan, since 12 of the 23 countries that recognize the Republic of China (ROC) are in the area, mainly in Central America and the Caribbean, plus Paraguay alone in South America. For Latin America, the PRC is a huge 1.3 billion people market and a potential source of much-needed Foreign Direct Investment, which in actuality turns out to be smaller than expected and mostly concentrated in the fiscal heavens of the Caribbean. Politically, besides the partnership in the struggle for a new world order, the mere existence of a China-option is itself a source of leverage when Latin American countries have to deal with the United States, who now have to face a competitor on trade and politic issues in what used to be their backyard. Apparently, deepening ties with Latin America is a winning solution for the PRC. The same is not completely true for Latin America, whose relationship with Beijing can be beneficial, but with some caveats. As far as bilateral trade is concerned, the problem is that of export concentration: in 2006, 62.5% of the region's exports to China were in the commodity sector - it was just 35% in 1995. This leaves Latin America, especially South America, exposed to the price volatility of its resources, which is historically more elevated than that of the manufactured goods and breeds macroeconomic uncertainty in a region that has always struggled with that issue. Furthermore, export concentration in the commodity sector, as far as the terms of trade are favorable as in the years before the ongoing global crisis, might hinder the upgrading of the industrial structure of those countries who find in it an easy and quick source of revenues. A positive effect on the welfare of the people and the fight against poverty and inequality is not automatically related to the blossoming of exports of natural resources, but depends on economic policy choices. A more recent, less studied aspect of Sino-Latin American trade is the increasing penetration of Chinese manufactured goods in the domestic markets of the region: while initially outplacing foreign competitors, the flow is becoming a source of concern for businesses in the textile sector of countries like Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico, who find it hard to compete with the minimum cost of labor that makes Chinese goods so cheap. That explains why the region has tariffs on imports from the Middle Kingdom that are 10% above world average (20% in the case of South America). Competition with Chinese manufactures in the third markets is also Central America's main problem in its re
Provides insight into U.S. and Chinese involvement in aid, trade, direct investment and strategic ties in Latin America In recent years, China has become the largest trading partner for more than half the countries in Latin America, and demonstrated major commitments in aid and direct investment in various parts of the region. China has also made a number of strategic commitments to countries like Nicaragua, Cuba, and Venezuela which have long-standing policies opposing U.S. influence in the region. China, the United States, and the Future of Latin America posits that this activity is a direct challenge to the role of the U.S. in Latin America and the Caribbean. Part of a three-volume series analyzing U.S.-China relations in parts of the world where neither country is dominant, this volume analyzes the interactions between the U.S., China, and Latin America. The book series has so far considered the differences in operating styles between China and the U.S. in Central Asia and Southeast Asia. This third volume unpacks the implications of competing U.S. and Chinese interests in countries such as Brazil and Argentina, and China’s commitments in Nicaragua and Venezuela. This volume draws upon a variety of policy experts, focusing on the viewpoints of South American and Caribbean scholars as well as scholars from outside states. China’s new global reach and its ambitions, as well as the U.S. response, are analyzed in detail.A nuanced examination of current complexities and future implications, China, the United States and the Future of Latin America provides readers with varied perspectives on the changing economic and strategic picture in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Con la visita del Presidente Hu Jintao en noviembre de 2004 a América Latina, China hizo saber al resto del mundo su creciente interés por la región. El avance hacia el así llamado “patio trasero” de Estados Unidos generó preocupación en el círculo político de ese país, ya que este movimiento podría desafiar la primacía norteamericana en el hemisferio occidental. Algunos analistas, sin embargo, ven el noviazgo de China con América Latina como algo natural debido a su necesidad largoplacista de commodities y soluciones en materia energética. La presencia de China en el hemisferio occidental presenta una exposición reveladora y multidisciplinaria de esta relación triangular, así como también las motivaciones que subyacen a cada uno de los implicados. Con ese objetivo, expertos de América Latina, China, Europa y los Estados Unidos reflexionan acerca de las ramificaciones del surgimiento de China como potencia mundial. A lo largo de los capítulos se compagina un marco para anticipar aspectos relacionados con la seguridad en materia económica y energética en la relación entre China y América Latina. Este informado análisis de la política desplegada por China en el hemisferio provee al lector de un panorama exhaustivo, centrándose en un aspecto particularmente sensible de su pacífico ascenso.
This book analyses the economic and policy relationships between China and Latin America. Key issues covered by the contributors include international trade and direct investment, empirical analysis of the complementary and intra-industry trade nature of Latin American and Chinese trade, the comparison of the production and trade of parts and components in East Asia and in Latin America and an examination of policy issues such as policies towards small and medium sized enterprises as well as pension reforms.
The international financial crisis in 2008 marked the beginning of important changes in the international economic system. The emerging market economies are increasingly becoming a driving force for the global economic growth. Under such circumstances, the Sino-Latin American economic and trade cooperation has entered a new period of historical opportunity. Based on the economic development trend and the adjustment of policy, this book explores the prospect for Sino-Latin American economic and trade cooperation. It tracks the development path for this cooperation in the next 10 years by analyzing resource endowment, industrial structure, economic system, development pattern, basic economic policy, economic environment, economic and trade relations between China and Latin America .
An analysis of the new physical presence of Chinese companies operating in Latin America and the Caribbean, the associated challenges that they face, and how they are impacting the region and its relationship with the PRC.
Two powerful forces measure their strength by acting upon globalization. One of them pushes globalization forward, while the other hinders its advance and promotes its decline.In which of those directions should Latin America move? Uncertainty hinders the region's strategic vision. If the future entails re-launching of globalization, it seems obvious that Latin America should follow along its lines. However, if globalization were to embark on a declining phase and an endangered future, the region would need to look at other options. Latin America, therefore, faces not only a dramatic uncertainty as a result of forces beyond its control, but also needs to anticipate unforeseen events to the best of its abilities, and react to or act upon them. Strategic reflection becomes imperative to manage both uncertainty and the possibility of rapid change.This exercise in strategic reflection implies an immersion in fraught international surroundings, analyzing the forces that push for and against globalization, trying to measure their respective strength, convergence capacity, and potential impact. At the same time, it requires looking into the flaws, weaknesses and contradictions of such forces. With these elements in hand, it will be easier to envisage where the trends are leading to, and by extension, where Latin America may end up standing and which goals it should follow.
