As Chinese investments in Ecuador continue to increase, Fernando Menéndez examines Ecuador’s dependence on oil exports to China and the impact Chinese influence is having on Ecuador and other ALBA countries.

As China’s economy continues to slow, Latin American analysts are concerned that investment and trade relations could decline. However, as Walker Rowe explains, China’s foothold in the region is well established and expected to remain for the foreseeable future.

While China’s entry into Latin America continues to gain international attention, a push by Japan to increase its influence in the region is receiving far less coverage. As Eric Farnsworth explains, Japan has maintained long-term interests in the region that it is only now seeking to strengthen.

How will Nicolás Maduro’s leadership impact China’s evolving relationship with Venezuela? Fernando Menéndez warns that the state of Venezuela’s economy and political stability is in jeopardy, putting China’s strong ties and investments in the country at risk.

As Mexico looks to broaden its global relationships away from the United States as a means to build its global profile; one of the top foreign policy initiatives for Mexico’s new government has been to diversify its political and economic relationships, with a focus on China.

China’s economic slowdown has emerging economies around the world concerned that slowing growth will impact trade and investment. Specifically, many Latin American markets worry they will be negatively impacted by a decrease in exports to China.

Will China’s economic slowdown have a negative impact on Latin America’s emerging markets? Fernando Menéndez explores how infrastructure development and regional trade could allow for diversification in Latin America and why China would be a prime beneficiary of the expansion.

Latin America has reemerged as one of the most significant regions in global affairs, as nearly simultaneous visits by US and Chinese leaders have proven. Niu Haibin explains that as the region becomes a common foreign policy priority, cooperation and a clear understanding of each country’s interests will allow for renewed development and a positive future.

Commenting on Chinese Presidnet Xi Jinping’s current Latin America visit, Chen Xiaoyang said that China and the US should work on trilateral cooperation with Latin America and take it as a new way of developing a new type of big power relations between them.

While the U.S. pivot to Asia’s impact on Sino-U.S. relations receives widespread attention, a significant risk to bilateral relations can be seen through China’s interventions in Latin America. As Fernando Menéndez explains, China is creating a counterbalance to U.S. actions in the Asia-Pacific by heavily investing in countries like Brazil and Venezuela.