Uploaded July 2023 | Updated September 2026, 6 hours ago

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China is deepening its ties with Latin America trade relations and political relations.

According to the World Economic Forum, Latin America's bilateral trade in goods with China grew 26-fold from US$12 billion in 2000 to US$315 billion in 2020 and is expected to more than double by 2035, to over US$700 billion. China has already overtaken the EU and is Latin America's second biggest trading partner after the USA.

As far as the political ties are concerned, in the last few years, China has increased its footprint in the LAC region through the China-CELAC-Forum summits launched in 2016. President Xi Jinping has visited the region 11 times since he took office in 2013. And during the pandemic, vaccine diplomacy has also become a cornerstone of China's regional strategy, delivering more than 300 million doses to LAC countries (compared with 125 million from the EU).

📺 Watch the first episode of the Latin America chronicles: 'The importance of Latin America': youtu.be/8DXFLOFK0XQ
📺 Watch the third episode of the Latin America chronicles: 'Critical raw materials and Latin America': youtu.be/8-aEvp3oMQ0

📖 Dig deeper into the migration to the EU in our publications:
• EU trade with Latin America and the Caribbean: Overview and figures: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document/EPRS_STU(2023)751413
• Strengthening ties: A new agenda for the EU's relations with Latin America and the Caribbean: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document/EPRS_BRI(2023)749791
• Latin America Outlook 2023: EU-LAC relations at a time of geopolitical upheaval: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank/en/document/EPRS_IDA(2023)739372

📲 Find all our publications on our EPRS app:
• iOS: http://epyoutube.eu/q57W
• Android: http://epyoutube.eu/q57X

CONTENT:
00:00 Intro
00:47 Trade relations between China and Latin America
02:05 China's network of trade agreements with Latin America
03:03 Political relations between China and Latin America
04:44 China's investments in Latin America
05:33 Resources in Latin America
06:36 Impact on the European Union
08:58 Outro