As 2023 draws to a close, it is high time to take stock of relations between China and Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries—and look to the future.
In recent decades, the rapid progress of economic and trade partnerships has become the ballast and stabilizer of China-LAC relations. According to the latest annual report of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the value of trade between China and LAC countries increased 35 times from 2000 to 2022. In particular, the figure reached a record high of over $480 billion last year.
However, with the fall in international commodity prices, LAC economies, which rely heavily on exports of agricultural produce and natural resources such as oil, natural gas, copper and wheat, have seen
