Dragon in the “backyard”: China’s investment and trade in Latin America in the context of crisis

Abstract

<jats:p>ABSTRACT The purpose of this article is to analyze China’s trade and investment relations with Latin America, especially with Brazil and MERCOSUR in the context of the international economic crisis. In a scenario in which commodity prices appear to remain low, the region increases its dependence on China. Thus, the Chinese take advantage to advance on the economies of the region, increasing reprimarization of the economies of these countries.</jats:p>

The Other Side of the Renminbi: Applying Robert Cox’s Critical Theory to the China-Latin American Relations l O Outro Lado do Renminbi: Aplicando a Teoria Crítica de Robert Cox às Relações entre China e América Latina

“…While it is still debated whether the economic presence of China in Latin America and the Caribbean is causing the reprimarization of the regions' economies, it is clear that China-LAC trade relations happen mainly in an interindustry logic 3 , where commodities are produced in Latin America and exported to China, which in turn sells high-added values to the latter (CEPAL, 2018). This leads to a relationship of dependency, that follows China's Going Global strategy, in which Chinese companies invest in energy and natural resources to guarantee the supply of raw material and food to fuel China's economy (Menezes and Bragatti, 2020;Slipak and Ghiotto, 2019).…”

“…The Chinese approach to the region has been accompanied by a narrative of South-South Cooperation (SSC) and the idea of an alternative to the traditional partnerships between LAC countries and the central powers (Vadell, Lo Brutto and Leite, 2020;Ray et al, 2015). On the other hand, some authors indicate that Chinese-Latin-American relations might be characterized by inequality and dependency just as much as those maintained with countries from the Global North (CEPAL, 2018;Menezes and Bragatti, 2020;Slipak and Ghiotto, 2019;Stallings, 2020).…”

Latin America-Caribbean-China Knowledge Networks: State of the Field

“…The fact that trade between China and LAC is predominantly inter-industry has promoted an important debate among scholars about the impacts of China in LAC, and the extent to which China contributes to the "re-commodification" or "re-primarization" of the region's exports structure (Bértola and Ocampo 2013;Rosales and Kuwayama 2012;Bolinaga and Slipak 2015;Svampa and Slipak 2015;Fornés and Mendez 2018;Ahumada 2019;Bernal-Meza 2020;Li Xing 2020;Menezes and Bragatti 2020). In this regard, some scholars have claimed that China has contributed to LAC going back to its old "commodity trap" (Stallings 2016).…”

Complexidade Econômica E a Estrutura Produtiva Brasileira: O Padrão De Exportação E O Desenvolvimento Econômico Nacional No Século Xxi

“…O boom das commodities ocorrido nos anos 2000 ("efeito China") 1 acabaria fazendo com que aumentasse significativamente a demanda internacional por produtos primários, ampliando consideravelmente a produção e a exportação desses produtos por parte da economia brasileira (HIRATUKA et al, 2012;ROCHA, 2015;BRAGATTI;MENEZES, 2020). Também é importante destacar que o Brasil vem passando por um processo de desindustrialização pelo menos desde meados dos anos 1980 (CANO, 2012), o que tem contribuído para uma perda da participação dos produtos industriais na pauta de exportações, com destaque para as manufaturas de maior intensidade tecnológica (NASSIF, 2008;MORCEIRO, 2023).…”