Ten Years After the Take-off: Taking Stock of China-Latin America and the Caribbean Economic Relations

Date
Oct 2010
In the space of ten years two economies that barely traded, let alone exchanged investments, have become major trade partners. Between 2000 and 2008 trade between China and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) grew at a breakneck annual rate of 31 percent, and even during the financial crisis in 2009 the dynamism remained unabated. China is today among LAC¿s top trading partners, particularly in countries such as Brazil, Chile, Peru and Argentina. LAC¿s share of China¿s trade is still modest, but has been growing fast, and the region figures among China¿s main suppliers of key raw materials such as copper, iron ore, and soybeans.