A New Phase in Sino-Latin American Cooperation: Implications of the Belt and Road Initiative Projects for the Way Ahead

MARÍA JULIANA GONZÁLEZ JÁUREGUI

Providing Public Goods in Times of Power Transition: Views from Latin America and China

Fudan Development Institute / FLAUC

Lugar: Shanghai; Año: 2020; p. 69 - 94

China?s increasing global presence during the end of the 20th century and the 21st century, as a result of the ?Going Out Policy?, contributed to generating a new era in Sino-Latin American relations. Over recent time, China not only became a crucial trade partner, but also a key investor and a leading lender for most of the region?s countries. In order to strengthen its cooperation with Latin America, China has established specific strategies and regional trade, investment, and financing plans under the China-Community of Latin American and the Caribbean States (CELAC, in Spanish) Forum, such as the China-CELAC Cooperation Plan (2015-2019) and the Joint Plan of Action for Cooperation on Priority Areas (2019-2021). The "1+3+6 Cooperation Framework? and the ?3x3 Model for Capacity Cooperation? serve as major guidelines for the implementation of those plans, in particular, and Sino-Latin American relations, in general. Considering those transformations, this paper analyzes the most relevant aspects of the new trade, investment, and financial relations between China and Latin America. The central aim is to identify how these circumstances have expanded cooperation and to provide insights on whether, how, and to what extent these changes are shaping new trajectories of development in Latin America. Although reflections will take into consideration the general dynamics of this new era of cooperation, the focus will be on addressing the implications of the Belt and Road Initiative projects in the region.