Chinese investment in Latin America

In the past decade, Chinese investment into Latin America has so often been characterised by large infrastructure projects: roads, railways, dams and ports, among others, frequently backed by state finance, and in many countries arriving under the banner of the Belt and Road Initiative. But in recent years, the nature of this investment has begun to change.

While China continues to look to its Latin American partners for markets and key resources, it is now Chinese companies, rather than its lenders, that are the main protagonists of investment, with a focus on new technology sectors.

New Scramble for Africa

At the start of the new year, the foreign ministers of China and the USA went on a tour of Africa in quick succession. US government circles described it as a coincidence, although it is clear that the respective Chinese foreign minister is making his first foreign trip abroad every year for three decades, in line with the motto of ‘Dinner for One’. The travel activity highlights the fact that the new ‘Scramble for Africa’ is picking up speed.

Newsletter 22/July 2023

Contents: Deutsche China-Strategie: “Wasch mir den Pelz,…!” +++ Wird Indonesien Chinas ‘Ruhrgebiet’? +++ BRI 10 years after: Geringe Feierlaune +++ Mapping global infrastructure +++ Chinesischer Grüngürtel in Zentralasien (und anderswo) +++ Lithium: Claims abstecken in Lateinamerika +++ China’s overseas economic and trade cooperation zones +++ A Guide to Chinese Commercial Banks +++ Quote: Im Netz der „Einflussoperationen“

Newsletter 12/April 2022

CONTENT: Blog posts: Ukraine-Russia: Those who are not with us … // News: Greenwashing the Junta in Myanmar / Go Game in the Pacific / China Pakistan Economic Corridor again top priority // Countermovements: Myanmar: Mining / Greece: Piräus / Pakistan: coal power plant // Readings: The complex relationship between China and India in light of Russia’s war in Ukraine / The Specter of Global China revisited.

Coal phase-out ‘par ordre de mufti’

President Xi Jinping’s announcement at the UN General Assembly in September that China will not build any new coal-fired power plants abroad in the future has given the international climate community new hope for an accelerated reduction of CO2 emissions worldwide, like the mirage of an oasis to the thirsty wanderers in the Sahara. For a real energy transition in the countries of the Global South, however, this is only one – albeit important – piece of the puzzle.