Reviewing the economic and statistical reports on Latin America and the Caribbean in the last few days for a presentation to a group of Texan investors, the memory of our last stay in Peru came to my mind. Long conversations with distinguished political and economic circles of Miraflores in beautiful Lima came to my mind. In these dialectic spaces it was affirmed in some cases openly, and in others a little more discreetly that China was reaching all the economic sectors of the Andean country. And I kept it with special attention to the diners of good wine and exclusive gastronomic cuts, because now I realize that they were right.
Reports as of December 2021 project that China in Latin America and the Caribbean is securing access to raw materials (such as oil and minerals, including uranium and lithium), as well as agricultural products (especially soybeans). Total trade between China and LAC increased from almost US$18 billion in 2002 to almost US$316 billion in 2019. In 2020, despite the pandemic, China's total trade with the region remained at virtually the same parameters. In 2020, China's imports from LAC amounted to $165 billion, consisting mainly of natural resources, including minerals (35%), soybeans (17%), mineral fuels (12%), meat (7%) and copper (6%). China's exports to the region in 2020 amounted to US$150 billion, with the main exports including electrical machinery and equipment (23%), mechanical machinery and appliances (16%), and motor vehicles and parts (6%).
China has become the main trading partner of Brazil, Chile, Peru and Uruguay and the second largest trading partner of many other countries. China has free trade agreements with Chile, Costa Rica and Peru. According to the China Global Investment Tracker database maintained by the American Enterprise Institute that tracks transactions of $100 million or more, Chinese investments in LAC from 2005 to December 2021 amounted to $133 billion, of which $61 billion corresponds to Brazil and $25 billion to Peru.
In the case of Peru, energy projects accounted for 60% of the investments, metals and mining accounted for 25%. Observing this scenario, I could not resist the opportunity to call my good friend Magistrate Tapia in Lima, and talk about the Monroe Doctrine (1823), which is definitely behind us, and how the current geostrategic conditions of the world reveal another panorama for Peru and Latin America.
By the way, how are the projects of China Yangtze Power Co. Ltd. going with the presidency of Castillo?
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