At the 16th China-Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) Business Summit, held in Beijing from November 2 to 3, Anyln Choo, Ambassador of Guyana to China, also acted as an energetic promoter of Guyanese coffee brand Amy's Pomeroon.

The brand is working with Chinese partners in order to begin supplying the Chinese market. "It is a perfect example of win-win cooperation," Choo said during a speech at the summit.

Many other Guyanese products including rum, hair and body coconut oil and hot pepper sauce were also on show at an exhibition on the sidelines of the summit. With many still unknown in the Chinese market, the goods from Guyana attracted a flow of visitors throughout the event. Peter Ramsaroop, CEO of the Guyana Office for Investment, told Beijing Review, many Chinese retail and manufacturing companies have entered the Guyanese market, and Guyana is seeking to supply its agricultural products to China.

In 2018, China and Guyana signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a China-proposed initiative to boost connectivity along and beyond the ancient Silk Road routes. "There will be greater cooperation going forward," Ramsaroop said.

Initiated by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, the China-LAC Business Summit has held 15 annual sessions in rotation between China and LAC countries since 2007, providing a platform for participating countries to further cooperation in diverse fields. Under the theme of Open Innovation, Shared Development, this year's edition gathered over 1,000 participants from China and LAC countries.

At the opening ceremony, representatives from the business communities in China and LAC countries launched the China-LAC Business Cooperation Beijing Initiative to jointly boost the digital economy, promote agricultural, cultural and tourism cooperation, tap into the potential of the green economy, and build a China-LAC community with a shared future.

Despite the geographical distance between China and LAC countries, the two sides have been building closer ties over recent years, Fernando Lugris, Uruguayan Ambassador to China, said at the summit. China has provided a large market and development experience for LAC countries. Mutual cooperation under the BRI has much room to go further, he added.

Economic partnership

China is a major trading partner of many LAC countries. Qiu Xiaoqi, Special Representative of the Chinese Government on Latin American Affairs, told the summit that bilateral trade in goods totaled nearly $370 billion in the first nine months of this year, and will likely exceed $500 billion by the year-end.

"China has played an important role in the economic and social development of the Caribbean region. In its collaboration with China, regional countries have benefited from the financing and infrastructure projects at a considerable level," Robert Le Hunte, Executive Director of the Inter-American Development Bank, said at the summit.

The LAC region has become the second largest destination for Chinese outbound investment. Chinese enterprises in fields including infrastructure and manufacturing have been part of local economic growth. Carlos Ronderos, President of the Colombia-China Investment and Trade Chamber of Commerce, told Beijing Review that Chinese companies established in LAC countries brought with them industrial knowledge and experience from China, which allows the host countries to further develop in hi-tech fields like alternative energy and the digital economy.

Today, China is a major market for many LAC agricultural products. The country is the world's second largest export destination for Chilean fruit. According to Ivan Marambio, President of the Chilean Fruit Exporters Association, Chile will export around 477,000 tons of cherries between October 2023 and March 2024, 85 percent of which will go to China. Marambio said he expected China-bound exports of Chilean cherries to double next year.

The growth of small businesses is creating a bridge between China and LAC countries. Warmpaca, a brand jointly developed by Chinese and Peruvian entrepreneurs, has introduced Peruvian alpaca wool products to Chinese consumers. According to Ma Yuxian, one of the co-founders, the company now works in partnership with more than 200 artisans in Peru.

In 2016, Warmpaca entered into a supply contract with Peruvian artisan Oswaldo Mamani. "At first, the Mamani family only received orders for around 1,000 alpaca wool products a year from our company. Now a total of 20 members of the family work for us, providing around 3,000 products per month. Chinese consumers are enthusiastic about the soft feel of these products," Ma told Beijing Review. During her visit to Peru earlier this year, Ma found that the Mamani family, who used to live in a bungalow, had recently built themselves a much larger three-story house and bought a car.

Expanding cooperation

Many LAC countries are seeking to strengthen ties with China to tap into the Chinese market and boost domestic development.

Guyana was one of the first Caribbean countries to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, in 1972. It is an increasingly important partner to China in the region. Data from the General Administration of Customs of China showed that bilateral trade totaled $1.88 billion in 2022, up 164.9 percent year on year. In the first half of this year, the trade volume reached nearly $630 million.

According to Choo, there is already a foundation for collaboration in the agricultural sector between Guyana and China. The future cooperation between the two countries will encompass the areas of climate, energy, food security and infrastructure.

As Guyana will likely be one of the LAC economies with the highest per-capita income by 2030, Ramsaroop said both countries are at the stage where they can step up and look at larger projects. Rich in petroleum and natural gas, Guyana presently has over 90 percent dependence on fossil fuel. But it is seeking to transition to renewable energy and green development. Guyana could become a production base for Chinese manufacturers of, for example, solar panels and electric cars in the LAC region, according to Ramsaroop.

"Guyanese companies are seeking not only to provide raw materials but also to improve production capability through cooperation with Chinese counterparts, which will allow more products to be developed locally in Guyana," he said.

In October 2022, the two countries signed an agreement to open direct flights by Chinese airlines to Guyana. "It has helped solve Guyana's supply chain issues in its inland regions," Ramsaroop said.

According to Ramsaroop, China and Guyana have the potential to further cooperate on pharmaceutical research and development. "With Chinese knowledge and capacity transfer, we will have the capacity to cope with future challenges within the Caribbean region," he said.

China and Argentina began cooperation under the BRI in 2022. Martín Lo Coco, Executive Director of Argentine Chamber of Commerce for Asia and the Pacific, told Beijing Review that the Chinese and Argentine economies are complementary. Argentina is a large food supplier and China has a huge population. While Argentina is importing Chinese technological products, it expects to learn more from China's technologies.

"We are also exploring e-commerce here in China, because we know that most Chinese people are Internet users. To better promote Argentine products, businesses from Argentina need to better understand the pace of Chinese economic growth," Lo Coco said.

"Nicaraguan companies hope to explore the Chinese market, and understand more about the interests and tastes of Chinese consumers. After the China-Nicaragua free trade agreement comes into effect on January 1, 2024, the two countries will make good use of all the shared business opportunities," Michael Campbell, Nicaraguan Ambassador to China, told Beijing Review.

Campbell said Nicaraguan products including coffee, rum, tobacco and sugar are finding their ways into Chinese households. "We are beginning cooperation with China in e-commerce, a sector with a lot of opportunities. Nicaragua is seeking to have its products in the Caribbean pavilions on Chinese e-commerce platforms like JD.com. I believe Nicaraguan products will be well received by the Internet-savvy Chinese consumers," he said.

Future outlook

Over recent decades, LAC countries have exported raw materials and agricultural products to China, and imported manufactured products from China. But there are concerns that the current trade mix could slow down the industrialization process in the LAC region, Evandro Menezes de Carvalho, Director of the Center for Brazil-China Studies at the Getulio Vargas Foundation School of Law in Rio de Janeiro, said at the summit.

Many LAC countries are also facing challenges related to climate change, political instability, sovereign debt, and lack of financial transparency in some projects, Carvalho said.

"LAC countries are at different positions on the global industrial chains. While some are engaging in downstream industries, there are also countries, especially those in South America, exploring cooperation with China on high-end production," Yue Yunxia, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Institute of Latin American Studies, told the summit.

In future cooperation, China needs to adopt targeted measures for each LAC country, and improve industrial ties with these countries to support their industrialization, Yue said.

Darren Pickstock, Deputy Chairman of the Bahamas Trade Commission, pointed out that China and LAC countries need to facilitate trade and logistics, especially improving customs clearance efficiency and building logistics networks. LAC countries should also increase the value added to China-bound exports.

In this key phase of transformation, LAC countries should improve regional integration, embrace new trends like digitalization, and work with China to better cope with global challenges, Carvalho said. 

(Print Edition Title: Beyond Mountains And Seas)

Copyedited by G.P. Wilson

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