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.

Newsletter 30/April 2024

Contents: Towards a Diasporically Grounded Global-China Analytic +++ ‚Bäumchen wechselt euch’ in der Mekong-Region +++ Pakistan: Leck geschlagenes Flaggschiff CPEC +++ Freie Bahn für Modernisierung der TAZARA ++++ Öffentliche Meinung in Südostasien: Advantage China +++ Readings: Global Civil Society and China +++ Blog Roll update: Latinoamérica Sustentable (LAS) +++ EJAtlas +++ Global China Map is back +++ Quote: China in Africa

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.

War about critical minerals?

For some commentators, the Russian attack on Ukraine is the “first lithium war”. After all, a side effect of the Russian invasion could be to frustrate Europe’s plans for a secure supply of strategic, critical raw materials, which Ukraine has in abundance. Such considerations show the potentially explosive power of competition for critical raw materials for ‘green capitalism’.

Newsletter 26/November 2023

Contents: Gastbeitrag: De-Globalisierung von oben? +++ Sri Lanka: Spiel über die Bande gegen China +++ Krieg um kritische Rohstoffe? +++ Unterrichtsmaterialien zu historischen und modernen Seidenstraßen +++ Ups and Downs: Beijing auf der Rutschbahn in Myanmar +++ Philippinen steigen aus BRI-Projekten aus +++ Lesehinweis: How the BRI Changed China +++ Blogroll Update: Belt and Road „gut erzählen“ +++ Der globale Fußabdruck von BRI +++ Quote: Whom to Trust?

Newsletter 25/October 2023

CONTENTS: Guest blog: Etikettenschwindel ‘Global Gateway’ +++ Lebenszeichen zum BRI-Jubiläum +++ Europäische Seidenstraße in Zentralasien +++ Global Gateway-Forum in Brüssel +++ Schuldenkrise: Streicheleinheiten vom IWF +++ Wer “Doppelnutzung” finden will, findet sie auch +++ Das „gefährlichste Schlupfloch“ in der regelbasierten Ordnung +++ Konnektivitäts-Initiativen +++ Lesehinweis: Sackgasse Polare Seidenstraße +++ Blog Roll Update +++ Quote: Who’s afraid of debt?

Newsletter 24/September 2023

Contents: IMEC: Geopolitik mit Wirtschaftskorridoren +++ G20 und das Tauziehen um den Globalen Süden +++ Just another BRICS in the Wall +++ Update: Ten years of BRI: Guests by surprise +++ Danke, Flugbereitschaft! +++ Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) Under Scrutiny +++ Kritische Menschenrechtsbilanz kritischer Mineralien +++ Historisches Referendum in Ecuador +++ Eisenerz aus Westafrika statt aus Australien +++ Readings: Asia-Pacific Regional Security Assessment 2023 +++ A Decade of the Belt and Road Initiative +++ Quote: Africa’s rising clout

Germany’s China Strategy: “Wash me, but don’t make me wet!”

The draft of Germany’s China strategy, which was presented on July 13, vacillates between the demand to checkmate the enemy and the desire to continue reaping the benefits of cooperation – both of which will be expensive in any case. The Federation of German Industries (BDI) immediately demanded that ‘Germany as a business location’ be made more attractive again. And the partners in the Global South courted for the balancing act between ‘risk reduction’ and ‘decoupling’ are predominantly skeptical.

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 20/May 2023

Contents: Taiwan: One finger at the button will be German ++++ UN-Menschenrechtsrat fordert Beendigung einseitig verhängter Sanktionen +++ ‚Lula’ da Silva in Beijing +++ ‚Entthronung’ des US-Dollar? +++ Geopolitischer Hotpot im Südchinesischen Meer +++ Civil Society Dialogue in the Context of the Belt and Road Initiative +++ Frisches Geld für Erdölpipeline in Ostafrika +++ Guinea: Joint venture for the world’s largest iron ore mine +++ Wie Beijing die Schuldenkrise managen will +++ China’s Overseas Investment in the Belt and Road Era +++ Quote: China-USA: Hand outstretched or PR?