Chinese finance to Latin America and the Caribbean surpassed that from the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank combined in 2014, and over half of the region’s new greenfield projects were comprised of new foreign direct investment from China in 2013, according to the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies’ China-Latin America Economic Bulletin – 2015.
US$22.1 billion in loans went from China to Latin America and the Caribbean in 2014, an amount only surpassed by 2010’s US$37.1 billion. Of the US$22.1 billion in 2014, US$8.6 billion went to Brazil, US$7.0 billion went to Argentina, and US$5.7 billion went to Venezuela. Infrastructure projects account for 46.0% of the US$93.7 billion lent to the region by China between 2010 and 2014, inclusive, with energy accounting for 23.9%, mining 10.1%, housing 4.1%, and tourism 2.5%.
Chinese greenfield foreign direct investment (GFDI) comprised 54% of Latin America and the Caribbean’s total GFDI in 2013, a high amount given that the largest percentages prior to 2013 were 2012’s 7% and 2008’s 6%. This 54% amounted to US$46 billion, of which US$40 billion went to the Nicaragua Canal project. 2014 saw China’s share of total GFDI decrease to 17%, or US$10 billion, a still-significant amount given that it is nearly the total of 2011 and 2012’s combined total, at US$7.2 billion and US$3.0 billion respectively. China’s share of mergers and acquisition foreign direct investment was 4% in 2013, a decrease from 2010’s 8%.