China: Human Rights and Chinese Business Activities in Latin America

In the last two decades, economic and financial ties between China and Latin America have deepened unprecedentedly. Chinese (state) policy banks have become the main creditors of several governments in the region (even ahead of multilateral development banks), while commercial banks are becoming important financiers. Chinese companies, the vast majority State-owned, have invested around $172 billion and built more than 200 infrastructure projects (mainly in the energy and transport sectors) worth at least $98 billion in more than 20 Latin American countries. In addition, trade has increased 26-fold since 2000; trends show that this amount may double by 2035.