Description: Chinese President Xi Jinping has hosted leaders from several South American countries in the annual China – CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) summit taking place in Beijing. The Chinese President has pledged up to $9 billion in corporate and infrastructure investments towards the bloc of countries as well as stable and certain economic future within China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Xi’s visit is mostly concentrated around pushing the US out of the South American sphere of influence where several countries on the continent are still largely dependent on US economic, political and military support. The summit arrived at a crucial time when most countries are edging to negotiate favorable trade agreements with the US since they are experiencing economic degradation from the imposition of US tariffs. Trade between China and CELAC reached staggering $515 billion in 2024 while goals were set to considerably surpass that amount in the upcoming years. On the sidelines of the summit, Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva signed several strategic partnership agreements with China’s Xi.
Impact: China continues to differentiate its strategic portfolio by enforcing strong foreign policy initiatives in South America. President Xi would aim at snatching key US strategic partners, pressuring the CELAC countries into alignment with Chinese founded projects while reducing US influence and outreach on their neighboring continent. Animosities between the South American bloc of countries and the US have surged ever since Trump’s imposition of tariffs and forcing Mexico into security submission in the fight against the drug cartels. Xi Jinping would aim at exploiting the divisions created by the US President by aggressively asserting Chinese capital and developing dependent economies which would contribute to China’s global geostrategic stance. Key pressure points for the Chinese President would most probably be Brazil as the continent’s largest economy, Panama, which is still part of the Belt and Road initiative and Mexico or Colombia which are facing severe internal crises with armed gangs and militias.