The Belt, The Road, into Latin America: China’s New Growth Axis

Abstract

In the past two decades, the rise of China has led to its global expansion into foreign markets with commodities to fuel its economic growth. China’s footprint into the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region is one of the fastest-growing geopolitical landscapes. Given the difference in bilateral relations between China and each LAC country, it is difficult to discern the motivations behind Chinese investment. Using economic data from 11 LAC countries from 2003-2016, I conduct a statistical analysis to assess some of the economic factors that influence Chinese investment into LAC.