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China-Latin America relations

China-Latin America relations
News, features and updates on Beijing's relations with various Latin American nations, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela and more.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Beijing in May 2025. China has asked to join Brazil’s WTO consultations over US tariffs. Photo: AP
World Trade Organization (WTO)

China moves to join Brazil’s WTO fight over Trump’s forced labour tariffs

Beijing said it held a substantial commercial interest in consultations Brasilia opened over duties of up to 37.5 per cent.

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Cuba

Beijing official hails China and Cuba as ‘good brothers’ in show of solidarity

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Brazil

UnionPay to link Chinese payment apps to Brazil’s Pix after US tariffs

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Currencies

Argentina extends US$19 billion China currency swap despite US pressure

Buenos Aires locks in the yuan line until 2031, months after the US Treasury Department offered a rival facility.

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Argentine President Javier Milei campaigned on a pledge never to do business with communist governments, but later sought Beijing’s help to extend the currency swap. Photo: Reuters
US-China relations

US sanctions Cuba’s military representative in Beijing over China procurement

Measures target officials and firms accused of obtaining military equipment from China and Russia for Cuba’s armed forces.

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Banking & finance

Brazil to become regular borrower in China, treasury official says

Brasilia cannot guarantee debut will happen this year, but wants it repeated to give companies a yuan benchmark to aim for.

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Mainland China

Bachelet-led panel urges Latin America not to choose sides in US-China rivalry

ECLAC commission says the region should leverage critical minerals but recognises limits imposed by US security dominance.

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From left, former Colombian president Ivan Duque, former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet and ECLAC executive secretary Jose Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs present the commission’s report in Santiago. Photo: ECLAC
United States

Cuban spy-base allegations, new Trump tariffs: 7 Latin America relations reads

From global soybean market updates to China’s best trade partners, here are highlights from the SCMP’s foreign correspondents in July 2026.

Colombia

Chinese executive filmed taking cash on Colombia metro project

Subcontractor accuses China Harbour managers of demanding cash to release payments on Bogota metro project.

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Hong Kong

Chile’s Kast courts China day after US hits exports with forced labour tariff

Chilean president, who campaigned on aligning Chile with Trump, meets Beijing delegation as his party claims Washington cannot be trusted.

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China's ambassador to Chile, Niu Qingbao, and Chilean President Jose Antonio Kast at the La Moneda Palace in Santiago on Friday. Photo: Handout
Electric & new energy vehicles

Brazil is now the world’s biggest buyer of Chinese cars: China customs

Purchases hit US$5.2 billion in five months, pushing the sector’s trade gap to its widest since records began in 1997.

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The BYD Dolphin Mini became Brazil’s best-selling retail vehicle in February as imports of Chinese-made cars surged. Photo: BYD
Uruguay

Brazil turns to China trade deal after Trump tariffs, as years of resistance end

Xi and Lula agree to fast track Mercosur trade talks, endorsing a deal Brasilia fought to bury when Uruguay first proposed it.

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Mainland China

Trump, tariffs and ties with China at stake in Brazilian presidential race

Polls show Beijing-friendly incumbent Lula neck and neck with Washington’s favoured candidate ahead of closely watched October election.

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US-China trade war

US senators clash over scope of Chinese connected-vehicle ban

Senator Ted Cruz, chairman of US Senate Committee on Commerce, warns substantial revisions will be needed before bill can become law.

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US Senate Committee on Commerce chairman Ted Cruz warned that unless the legislation was narrowed, the Connected Vehicle Security Act would face a difficult path to becoming law. Photo: AP
Shanghai

China vows to defend Brazil’s sovereignty as Trump’s 25% tariff bites

Wang Yi tells Brazilian foreign minister Beijing backs Brazil’s sovereignty, and asks for support on ‘China’s own core interests’ in return.

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Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira (centre, left) and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (centre, right) meet on the sidelines of the Asean foreign ministers' meeting in Manila, the Philippines, on Thursday. Photo: Xinhua
Americas and the Caribbean

Chile wants US$100 billion to break China’s grip on its copper

Chile’s foreign minister says the copper market is too concentrated, but refining more at home means competing with Chinese smelters.

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Middle East

Brazil widens lead over US in China’s soybean market despite Trump-Xi deal

China’s Brazilian soybean imports up 13.7 per cent in June compared to a year earlier; US figures fell 20.6 per cent over the same period.

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Iran

US claims 3 China-linked spy sites in Cuba monitoring American military activity

State Department report alleges Beijing and Moscow regard Cuba-based facilities as among their ‘most critical foreign listening posts’.

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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has backed a new report released on Monday that said China maintains a “persistent intelligence-gathering presence” in Cuba. Photo: Reuters
Hong Kong

China rejects US, Panamanian claims of ‘weaponising’ ship inspections

Beijing cites data showing Panama-flagged vessels suffered multiple serious accidents in Chinese waters this year.

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Germany

A year into Trump’s tariffs, Brazil trades less with US and more with China

Trading report lands as USTR weighs extra 25 per cent levy and Flavio Bolsonaro tells hearing that Lula ‘licks China’s boots’.

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United States

Why Peru wants to shift its relationship with China beyond raw mineral supplies

Lima is courting Chinese investment as it looks to a ‘new phase’ in their economic relationship, the country’s ambassador tells a forum.

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Exports of raw materials such as copper are a mainstay of the Peruvian economy. Photo: Reuters
US-China relations

America’s first sphere of influence becomes the test of its power at 250

Two centuries after the Monroe Doctrine, China is testing US influence in the hemisphere where it first projected power.

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Illustration: Brian Wang
United States

Aid for Venezuela, China-Colombia ties: 7 Latin America relations reads

From Argentina’s move towards Beijing to Lula’s beef deal, here are highlights from the SCMP’s foreign correspondents in June 2026.

Venezuela

‘Venezuela is our home’: Chinese Venezuelans rally after earthquakes

Merchants across the country transformed shops, warehouses and community networks into a relief effort after the deadliest quakes in decades.

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Venezuela

China pledges extra US$14.7 million in earthquake relief to Venezuela

Beijing is also providing satellite images of the affected areas, as Chinese businesses and overseas communities in the country pitch in.

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People sift through donated clothes on a street in La Guaira, Venezuela, on Sunday, after two devastating earthquakes struck the region. Photo: Reuters
Venezuelan crisis

In Venezuela, China’s oil-for-loan deals run into huge US-led debt restructuring

Beijing’s influence in Caracas seen fading, with Washington controlling Venezuela’s oil revenues and debt overhaul, potentially triggering a stand-off.

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China’s oil-for-loan mechanism with Venezuela could be affected by Washington's intervention in the country. Photo: Getty Images
European Union

EU pitches Brazil a ‘more beneficial’ rare earths deal than US or China

EU’s Jozef Sikela promises refining investment and technology transfer, in a race for Brazilian minerals that the US and China already lead.

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Australia

US targets Cuba mining sector to block use of China-linked supply chains

Washington revealed sanctions on foreign-backed mining ventures on Tuesday, which Havana slammed for being ‘dishonest and mendacious’.

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