Belt and Road Initiative: Which Door to Enter Latin America? Chapter in Scopus uri icon

abstract

  • The Third Belt and Road Forum, which took place in October 2023, was a significant event for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The project President Xi Jinping initiated has seen unprecedented investments in infrastructure across Eurasia and Africa, supported by generous funding from Chinese financial institutions and implemented primarily by state-owned enterprises (SOEs). The BRI¿s apparent success has expanded its geographical scope beyond its 2013 boundaries, including Latin America, despite the project's original purpose of recreating the old Silk Road that linked nations across Eurasia via land and sea. The forum was a milestone that prompted a critical review of the BRI's accomplishments and limitations over the past decade. The initiative has gained momentum through unprecedented investments supported by lavish spending from Chinese financial institutions and often carried out by SOEs. Latin America seduces foreign investors and business enterprises, as it is a region vastly populated and endowed with abundant natural resources. The population faces many needs, which can be easily translated into markets for a wide range of goods and services. Recently, the region acquired a critical role in the ongoing trade hostilities between China and the United States due to ideological realignments and after the scourge of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, economic benefits are propelled by the two superpowers¿ geostrategic interests beyond savvy business rationale. So far, China has played the winning card after its opponent neglected those people and territories. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025.

publication date

  • January 1, 2025