Trends and Economic Effects of China’s Expansion in Latin America within the Framework of the Belt and Road Initiative

Abstract

This article examines the main trends in economic relations between China and Latin America and the Caribbean within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative. The People’s Republic of China has significantly expanded its presence in the region by focusing on strategic sectors linked to natural resources and logistics, thereby strengthening its economic and geopolitical influence. The analysis shows that the expansion of Chinese trade and investment—driven by large-scale imports of minerals and agricultural products, as well as major infrastructure projects—has stimulated growth in several South American countries but has also deepened patterns of unequal exchange and generated new forms of dependence on the Chinese market and on the volatility of international commodity prices. Consequently, China–Latin America relations combine short-term economic opportunities with a growing structural subordination of the region to the Chinese economy.