Table Of ContentAdditional Praise for China on the Ground in Latin America
“Over the last decade, Evan Ellis has developed an encyclopedic knowledge of
China’s crucial and increasingly complex relationship with Latin America. In his
latest book, Ellis illuminates the new dimensions of that relationship. His highly
detailed account of the expanding role and presence of Chinese companies in the
region is an invaluable contribution and will surely become a standard reference
for scholars, policy analysts, and decision makers. No one has a better grasp of
how China is shaping Latin America’s economic and political landscape.”
—Michael Shifter, President, Inter-American Dialogue, USA
“No scholar in the US has his ear more to the ground on China in Latin America
than Evan Ellis. Now, in this thorough new book, he is kind enough to share
those insights with us. A must read for all those concerned about Latin America,
China, and foreign policy.”
—Kevin P. Gallagher, Author, The Dragon in the Room: China and
the Future of Latin American Industrialization, USA
“Fearing a growing dependence on natural resources and on China, Latin
America is seeking more added value and diversification. China, on the other
hand, will need more natural resources in order to expand its footprint on finan-
cial markets and to export more complex goods. Both are adapting and learning
from one another. Evan Ellis delivers an impressive analysis that enables us to
anticipate the evolution of these relationships and to guide Latin American deci-
sions. The book will serve as a tool to help government officials formulate more
efficient public policies. It will also be a great resource for Chinese companies
seeking to operate in the region and multilatinas trying to penetrate the Chinese
market.”
—Sergio Bitar, Former Senator and Minister of State under Presidents
Salvador Allende, Ricardo Lagos, and Michelle Bachelet, Chile
“To fully understand the growing presence of China in Latin America, it will
be essential to read Evan Ellis’ new book, Chinese Companies on the Ground in
Latin America. Evan Ellis provides an in depth analysis of the goals and tactics
of Chinese companies in the region. Their presence will only expand in the
years ahead and this is the one volume that will help analysts, businessmen, and
policy makers understand the current interests and long term goals of Chinese
companies.”
—Riordan Roett, The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International
Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University, USA
The Political Economy of East Asia
Series Editors:
Ming Wan, George Mason University
Natasha Hamilton-Hart, the University of Auckland
Published by Palgrave Macmillan:
China on the Ground in Latin America: Challenges for the Chinese and
Impacts on the Region
R. Evan Ellis
CHINA ON THE GROUND IN
LATIN AMERICA
CHALLENGES FOR THE CHINESE
AND IMPACTS ON THE REGION
R. Evan Ellis
CHINA ON THE GROUND IN LATIN AMERICA
Copyright © R. Evan Ellis, 2014.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2014 978-1-137-43976-5
All rights reserved.
First published in 2014 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN®
in the United States— a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world,
this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills,
Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-49433-0 ISBN 978-1-137-43977-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781137439772
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ellis, Robert Evan.
China on the ground in Latin America : challenges for the Chinese
and impacts on the region / R. Evan Ellis.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Latin America—Foreign economic relations—China. 2. China—
Foreign economic relations—Latin America. 3. Latin America—
Commerce—China. 4. China—Commerce—Latin America.
5. Investments, Chinese—Latin America. 6. Latin America—
Economic conditions—21st century. I. Title.
HF1480.5.Z4C625 2014
337.5108—dc23 2014007909
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Knowledge Works (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: September 2014
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For my wife Zeydy and for Amelia, Brandon,
Anthony, Constantine, and Ian.
I’m very proud of you guys and love you very much.
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CONTENTS
Preface ix
Part I What Is Happening . . .
What Is New About It
1. Introduction 3
2. Natural Resource Development—Petroleum,
Mining, and Agriculture 15
3. Loan-Backed Construction—The New Model 47
4. Retail Outlets, Distribution Networks, and
Manufacturing Centers 87
5. Commercial Service Offerings—Telecom,
Electricity, Logistics, and Banking 103
Part II China’s Emerging Struggles
in Latin America
6. Addressing the New Challenges 129
7. The Struggle to Acquire Companies and Win
Project Work in Latin America 139
8. Day-to-Day Management Challenges Faced by
Chinese Companies in Latin America 155
9. The Question of Chinese Communities 179
10. What It All Means 197
Notes 213
Bibliography 285
Index 291
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PREFACE
In 2004, when I began to follow China’s engagement with Latin America
in earnest, there was relatively little written on the topic beyond trade
statistics and journalistic accounts of business deals and visits by senior
leaders. As I researched and wrote my first book on the topic, China in
Latin America: The Whats and Wherefores,1 and my own understanding
grew, I sensed that my intellectual journey was not unlike that of aca-
demics, businessmen, and political leaders across Latin America, as they
came to recognize what China’s global “re-emergence” meant for their
own countries, businesses, and careers, and raced to develop the knowl-
edge and connections to take advantage of the opportunities that China
represented.
During those early years, the community of people actively study-
ing “China in Latin America” was a small, eclectic, yet rapidly growing
family. Part of the intellectual excitement of studying the topic during
that time was the constant discovery of new people working on similar
questions from different perspectives in different places. There were the
brilliant rising stars attached to Latin American embassies and businesses
in China itself, in places such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou—
people such as Mario Artaza and Eric Bethel, for whom staying on top of
events on both sides of the Pacific seemed to neither permit nor require
sleep. There were the US-based scholars who pioneered the field, mak-
ing sense of developments from a political science and international
relations perspective, including Riordan Roett, Cynthia Watson, Jorge
Dominguez, and Gonzalo Paz. Reciprocally, China-scholars such as
David Shambaugh, Bill Ratliff, and Julia Strauss, provided perspectives
into how China’s expanding engagement with Latin America looked
to those watching the Peoples Republic of China (P.R.C.). There were
the experts from the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank,
and the Economic Commission on Latin America and the Caribbean
(ECLAC) whose analyses of the patterns in the numbers helped us to
understand how the P.R.C. was impacting the region in economic terms,
