Commentary: China-Latin America cooperation not to undercut U.S. interests

by Xinhua writer Wang Haiqing
BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) — In the lead-up to a scheduled Latin America trip by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, some alarmists from the West have once again hyped the ill-founded notion that China intends to foray into the so-called U.S. backyard.
While there is no denying that China has stepped up efforts to uplift ties with Latin American countries since the turn of the century, the aim is to promote win-win cooperation between them, rather than undercut U.S. interests in a region which Washington traditionally deems as its sphere of influence.
In 2014, two-way trade between China and Latin America hit 263.6 billion U.S. dollars, a 20-fold increase from the total value in 2000. China’s investment in the region also surged to more than 80 billion dollars last year, according to statistics by China’s Ministry of Commerce.
The two sides are upbeat about the future of their economic cooperation, setting a goal to increase their annual trade to 500 billion dollars within a decade.
They have pledged joint efforts not only to boost their trade volume, but also to facilitate balanced and mutually-beneficial development.
The upcoming trip by Li, which will take him to Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Chile, is another example of Beijing’s sincerity in forging closer cooperation with Latin American countries, for the tour comes only less than a year after a visit to the region by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The four countries Li is to visit jointly account for about 57 percent of China-Latin America trade, and it is expected that during Li’s visit, the two sides will also explore potentials in industry cooperation, infrastructure and technology, aside from signing deals in such traditional fields as mining, energy and agriculture.
As observed by many, commodities including minerals and agricultural products are the major items that China imports from Latin America.
It is worth noting that the booming China-Latin America trade is a result of economic complementarity between the two sides, and a sober mind will by no means be deceived by the sensational claim that China is plundering resources in the region as colonial powers have done in the past.
In an effort to give full play to their complementary economic advantages, China and Latin America will continue to diversify their trade and broaden their cooperation.
In fact, the industrial capacity cooperation, from the Rio subway serving the Olympics to an ultra-high voltage power transmission program, from hydropower stations to railway along the Pacific and the Atlantic, has already become a new growth point of China-Latin America cooperation.
Goods and investment from China are making everyday life a better experience in many Latin American countries. Infrastructure projects built by Chinese companies have also made the region more attractive among foreign investors.
But unfortunately, the shared aspiration of China and Latin America to expand cooperation and further boost their relations has triggered suspicion from a handful of conspiracy-theory-believers.
Although it still plays a dominant role in Latin America as in many other parts of the world, the United States has seen its influence waning in the region, and that is a natural outcome of Latin American countries’ continued strive for independent development policies.
Without giving due consideration to such realities and also the fact that closer cooperation between China and Latin America is a boon not solely for themselves, it is simply absurd to claim that China is primarily responsible for the falling U.S. influence in the region.