China gains ground in Latin America diplomacy as US uncertainty bites

China’s high-profile outreach to Latin America underscores Beijing’s expanding strategic emphasis on the region, according to Chinese observers, one of whom said solid China-Latin America ties would be “unstoppable” if the United States continued its current approach toward its southern neighbours.

Their comments followed the fourth ministerial meeting of the China-Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac) Forum, held in Beijing on May 13.

With key Celac leaders floating megaproject proposals during the event, another Chinese observer noted that infrastructure was likely to remain a key sector of engagement for Beijing, playing a crucial role in countering US influence in the region.

While it was a routine event under the established China-Celac mechanism, the forum happened to coincide with the Trump administration’s global tariff war and a growing US-China power struggle in Latin America, marked in particular by recent tensions over the Panama Canal.

In his keynote address, President Xi Jinping pitched China as “a good friend and partner” of Latin American and Caribbean nations, while offering a US$9.2 billion credit line to support development.

He said Beijing was ready to work with the 33-member regional bloc to boost development and promote a multipolar world in the face of “bullying” and “unilateralism”, a thinly veiled swipe at the White House.

  

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