Chinese investment boosts Latin American economies

The pick-up in economic growth in Latin-America over recent years is to a great deal thanks to the rising trade with China. In the first plenary meeting of the Chinese Latin American business committee, the importance of Chinese investment flows to the region was highlighted.

China and Latin America have complementary economic structures, so there are various prospects for cooperation. Large Chinese companies such as PetroChina or Haier already have a long history of expanding their operations in Latin-America.

Echo Qu, Vice General Manager of Haier Electrical Appliances Corp., said, "With our establishment there, we can solve the local unemployment problem by a large amount, and bring our research and development technology and also our after-sales services."

According to Tian Deyou, deputy general director of the Americas and Oceania Affairs of Ministry of Commerce of China, China's investment in Latin America reached 8.8 billion US dollars and the engineering contract amounted to 9.7 billion US dollars, during the first 11 months of 2012. And it continued to show a faster development.

Since 2001, trade between China and the region has seen an average annual increase of over 30%, with China being a major source of investment for Latin America and the Caribbean.

In 2013, more investments and technology exchange with China will further boost the economic and commercial ties between the continent and the world's second-largest economy.