Editor's note: China has become a major trade, investment and financing partner for Latin American countries since the early 2000s. In November 2017, Panama became the first Latin American country to join China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and a host of other countries in the region followed suit in the years that followed. The BRI is believed to have given fresh impetus to the development of China-Latin America relations. CGTN spoke to National Thousand Talents Distinguished Professor at China's Tsinghua University and Former Special Economic Adviser of the President of Brazil Alessandro Golombiewski Teixeira, who shared his views on the status of the current China-Latin American relationship and its transformations. The views expressed in the video do not necessarily reflect those of CGTN.

CGTN: How would you evaluate the current relationship between China and Latin America?

Teixeira: The current relationship between China and Latin American countries is very positive. China is the biggest trade partner of the region, the biggest foreign direct investor in the region, and one of the main lenders for Latin America. The participation of China in the region has grown exponentially in the last few years and it's still growing because I think it's a win-win partnership.

CGTN: How has this relationship been transformed over the past seven decades? 

Teixeira: The economic, trade and cultural relationships between China and Latin America started in the 1600s. It was the first time that China and Latin American countries established a trade route – the old Silk Route. Since 1978, with China opening up, this relationship has progressively developed. After 2001 when China entered WTO, this relationship became stronger. In the 70s and the 80s, the percentage of the participation of China in the trade of Latin America was only 2.3-2.4 percent, but now it's over 20 percent.

CGTN: Some critics point out that Latin America's commodity-based trade relationship with China is unequal. What are your thoughts?

Teixeira: The trade between China and Latin America is very complementary. China needs natural resources, and Latin America can provide that because we are one of the largest regions in the world producing natural resources.

We provide not just mineral commodities, but also food and agricultural products. We have a lot of companies that export technology to China as well. For example, Brazilian aviation company Embraer has exported a lot of jets and technology to the aviation sector in China, and many of the electronics and high-technology suppliers are being exported from Mexico and Latin America to Chinese partners.

CGTN: What role does the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) play in furthering China-Latin American cooperation?

Teixeira: The Belt and Road Initiative has a very unique perspective. In the last few years more than 25 billion U.S. dollars have been channeled from China into Latin America, helping infrastructure projects with large investments.

But the BRI is not just about that. You have the digital Silk Road with companies like Huawei, ZTE, and even Alibaba group helping local companies to develop 5G and other technologies that would help not just the economy but for example, education. All the artificial intelligence development that China is developing can be transferred to Latin America through the BRI.

CGTN: As China becomes increasingly more engaged with Latin American countries, where does that leave the U.S.?

Teixeira: The United States has always played a very difficult role in the region. The United States had the opportunity to help Latin American countries but did not. So the relationship that Latin America and China have is completely different than that of Latin America and the United States.

What I see in the perspective of the relationship with the United States for many years was a win-lose situation. A good example is Mexico – 80 percent of the international trade of Mexico depends on the United States. So it's very important for Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Peru and Colombia to diversify their markets and their trade partners to include China.

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