China in Latin America: October 2024

Illegal Fishing: Fishing unions and artisanal fishermen mounted strikes and road blocks across Peru over a shortage of giant squid off the country’s coast, which they attributed to illegal fishing by Chinese-flagged vessels. Trade groups argued that a September decree on foreign vessel monitoring leaves loopholes ripe for exploitation. The final version left out a measure barring ships under investigation—including Chinese vessels linked to illegal fishing and forced labor—from Peruvian ports. It also allows foreign vessels to synchronize their satellite systems with Peru’s instead of installing the country’s national system, SISESAT, weakening oversight by Peruvian authorities.

On October 17, Peru’s Congress passed a law authorizing and regulating “legitimate use of force” by the country’s military in combating illegal maritime practices. The law awaits the executive’s signature, though members of the executive branch have denied that illegal fishing by Chinese ships caused the squid shortage.

An investigation by Peruvian civil society organization Artisonal found that Chinese ship Zhe Pu Yuan 98 acts as a hospital for Chinese squid-fishing vessels in the Pacific Ocean, bringing sick crew members to shore. With no legal framework regulating its dual function, the ship could be facilitating illegal fishing, Artisonal argues.

Milei Plans Bilateral Meeting With Xi Jinping: Argentina’s Foreign Ministry revealed dates for a potential face-to-face between President Javier Milei and Chinese President Xi Jinping: the G20 summit in mid-November, the China-Community of Latin American and Caribbean States forum in April 2025, or a bilateral meeting before June 2025. China is one of Argentina’s largest trade partners, second only to Brazil, and, in July, renewed a $5 billion currency swap line for Argentina, delaying repayments another twelve months. According to the Americas Society/Council of the Americas, of the nineteen sitting heads of state across Latin America, nine have visited China while in office.

Mexico Courts Investment, China Included: Reuters and the Wall Street Journal reported that Mexico is considering offering tax credits to foreign firms—including Chinese companies—that swap inputs from China, Malaysia, Taiwan, or Vietnam for domestic ones. The country started informal talks on the measures with Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn, chipmaker Intel, and U.S. automaker GM, among other companies, targeting electric vehicle (EV), semiconductor, rare earth minerals, battery, electronics, and aerospace manufacturers.

Rhodium Group’s China Cross-Border Monitor counted over seven hundred completed foreign direct investment (FDI) transactions from China to Mexico worth a combined $13 billion in 2023, more than six times official stock numbers from Mexico’s Secretariat of Economy and China’s Ministry of Commerce.

Mexico’s economy ministry filed a comment on the U.S. Commerce Department’s proposed ban on Chinese software and hardware in connected vehicles, arguing it would hurt Mexico’s auto industry.

EVs, Solar, Renewable Energy: Zeekr, part of Chinese company Geely, began selling its Zeekr 001 and Zeekr X EVs in Colombia. Geely announced plans to establish a commercial office in Chile, abandoning its importer of three years. BYD launched its sixth model in Brazil this year, a hybrid pickup truck.

A subsidiary of state-owned China Communications Construction Group agreed to loan Nicaragua $70.55 million to build a solar plant outside Managua, which is meant to power Nicaraguan state-owned water and sewage utility Enacal.

French mining company Eramet acquired full ownership of its lithium project in Argentina, buying out its Chinese partner, Tsingshan, as it prepares to start production.

Migration: Guatemalan authorities dismantled a criminal network, involving over twenty active police officers, that trafficked nearly ten thousand migrants from China, Russia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, and Vietnam, among other countries.

Panama’s migration agency counted 124 Chinese migrants crossing the Darién Gap in September, about a tenth as many as in June. Nikkei Asia attributed the slump to tougher immigration enforcement across the Western Hemisphere. Ecuador suspended its visa waiver for Chinese citizens in July and Panama aims to add U.S.-funded repatriation flights to China, having started flights to Colombia and Ecuador.

Infrastructure and the Belt and Road Initiative: On October 3, Colombia announced plans to join China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Brazil, Colombia, and Paraguay are the only South American countries that are not yet members, and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s (Lula’s) top foreign policy adviser Celso Amorim announced that Brazil will not join the initiative. On October 10, Colombia’s Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo met with China’s foreign Minister, Wang Yi, and Vice President Han Zheng in Beijing and launched a joint working group for negotiations.

Peru’s Chancay port, a BRI project owned and operated by Hong Kong-based Cosco Shipping, will start shipping two container vessels a week to Shanghai in late November, with plans to expand routes to Asia based on demand. China donated $7 million-worth of vehicles and security scanners to Peru for November’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders Summit in Lima.

The Nicaraguan government canceled construction on the Interoceanic Canal, a BRI project set to open in 2020, given corruption and embezzlement scandals involving its original operator, Hong Kong Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Co. Limited.

Panama’s national assembly authorized funds for pre-construction studies on the BRI’s Panama-David Train Project, a railway connecting Panama City to Chiriquí Province, close to the border with Costa Rica. One of President José Raúl Mulino’s campaign promises, the project’s planning will start this year and contracting will begin in 2025.

As part of the BRI, China donated a satellite system to Uruguay for weather and environmental monitoring.

Honduras signed an agreement with Chinese state-owned Power China to complete construction and feasibility studies on two hydroelectric plants, as well as a free study and development plan for Honduras’ electric grid.

Prime Minister of Dominica Roosevelt Skerrit announced a $20 million gift from China to support housing needs on the island.

Diplomacy, Media, Trade, and Investment: El Universal reported that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s economic team is considering imposing tariffs on low-cost products from China sold through e-commerce platforms such as Temu, Shein, Aliexpress, and Alibaba.

In Uruguay’s presidential race, Yamandú Orsi, the left-of-center opposition candidate, won the first round of voting on October 27. Orsi favors negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA) with China via the Mercosur customs union but “would likely abandon efforts at negotiating [FTAs] outside of the bloc,” Wilson Center analysts wrote. Orsi will compete with rival Álvaro Delgado, the ruling party candidate, in a runoff on November 24. Analysts expect Delgado, the former chief of staff for current President Luis Lacalle Pou, to continue negotiations for a bilateral FTA with China outside the framework of Mercosur.

The first shipment of Honduran shrimp arrived in China since the two countries’ early harvest arrangement entered into force on September 1, allowing tariff-free exports of shrimp and other products to China while the countries negotiate a FTA. Honduras’s Ministry of Economic Development asked the country’s public information institute to classify negotiation documents until the FTA is finalized.

Panama’s trade minister confirmed the country will discuss an FTA with China in 2025.

A delegation of Lula’s top advisers traveled to China, meeting with Wang Yi, former Brazilian president and current BRICS bank head Dilma Rousseff, and private companies, including Chinese EV manufacturer BYD. BYD is building an EV factory in Brazil’s Bahía state, with plans to start assembly before year-end and full production in the first half of 2025.

BRICS approved Cuba’s and Bolivia’s membership as second-tier “partners.” Brazil vetoed Venezuela’s accession to the bloc. China suspended a contract to buy 400,000 tons of sugar annually from Cuba, demanding market-oriented reforms. Bolivia and China held their tenth Political Consultation Mechanism and signed an Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement, which includes a donation of approximately $14.5 million in equipment to strengthen Bolivia’s border security.

China and Peru held their fourth Strategic Dialogue on Economic Cooperation, discussing cooperation on infrastructure, mining, manufacturing, energy, and telecommunications. China has expressed a desire to upgrade the two countries’ relationship beyond the level of a comprehensive strategic partnership. Peru already has a FTA with China, which it expects to renew in November.

Argentina ratified an income tax treaty with China that caps rates on dividends, interest, royalties, and capital gains. According to KPMG, “Argentina must deliver its instruments of ratification to China by November 30, 2024, for the treaty to enter into force in 2024 and thus take effect from 2025 onwards.”

The People’s Daily, the Chinese Communist Party’s official newspaper, and Monitor Mercantil, a Brazilian newspaper covering economics, co-hosted the 2024 China-LAC Media Cooperation Forum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, gathering representatives from media outlets, think tanks, and international organizations from across the region.

China and Panama Collaborate on Space: Panama’s Center of Innovation in Space Sciences signed an agreement with China’s Deep Space Exploration Laboratory to collaborate on China and Russia’s International Lunar Research Station Project. The agreement includes opportunities for Panamanian professionals to participate in exchange programs, training, and education, as well as lunar missions and research on new technologies.

Cross-Strait Relations and Taiwanese Investment: Guatemala’s First Lady, Lucrecia Peinado, met Taiwanese President William Lai in Taiwan. The president and Taiwan’s ambassador to Paraguay, in separate meetings, described similar plans to assess Guatemala and Paraguay’s investment and industrial environments. China warned Guatemala to “make the right decision” after Taiwan’s foreign minister made an official visit to the country. Guatemala and Paraguay lack diplomatic relations with Beijing and instead recognizes Taiwan.