Sino-Latin American Relations: Sources and Consequences, 1977–1997

Abstract

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.. Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Miami is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs.Although scholars and policymakers talk about the dynamic economic potential in the relationship between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and Latin America, few have attempted to examine closely the diplomatic and economic relationship as it has developed since the late 1970s. It is hard to find much scholarly work on Sino-Latin American relations of the last 20 years.' Nevertheless, the growth of bilateral relations during this period is increasingly important, if not yet significant, for both sides.In 1975, total trade was about US$200 million; by 1988 it had reached US$2.1 billion. Additionally, in the 1980s, China and Latin America began to exchange high-level diplomatic visits, and these have since multiplied. Particularly since 1989, the level of Sino-Latin American interaction has expanded significantly. Between 1989 and 1996, trade increased by more than 100 percent. The number of Chinese joint venture investments in Latin America more than tripled, to 195, involving a gross investment of more than US$300 million (FBIS 1996a, 32). Latin American investors, for their part, have about 200 projects in China, with investments also reaching US$300 million (FBIS 1996c, 26). Despite this impressive expansion, it is important to note that Sino-Latin American trade remains marginal for both: 2.3 percent of Chinese total trade and 1.4 percent of Latin American trade in 1996. Still, trends over the last few years indicate that the relationship is picking up: bilateral trade increased by 14 percent in 1994 and 30 percent in 1995. As Wang Zhiquan, director general of the Americas Department of China's Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade, stated, "Since the early 1990s, trade and cooperation between China and Latin America has progressed in a spectacular way . . . more than any of us could have expected" (FBIS 1996b, 22). Given the small share of this bilateral trade in each country's total, trade and its recent expansion are insufficient to merit an examination of Sino-Latin American relations. The strengthening and broadening of diplomatic ties since the mid-1980s, however, suggests additional reasons why both sides might use the relationship to enhance their own benefits in a dramatically changed and interdependent international system. 91 This content downloaded from 169.229.32.137 on Thu, 8 May 2014 18:07:58 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions JOURNAL OF INTERAMERICAN STUDIES AND WORLD AFFAIRS 41: 2One insight is how each side has sought to diversify its foreign relations...

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