The Chinese migration to the Latin America/Caribbean region is an understudied dimension of the Asian American experience. There are three distinct periods in the history of this migration: the early colonial period (pre-19th century), when the profitable three-century trade connection between Manila and Acapulco led to the first Asian migrations to Mexico and Peru; the classic migration period (19th to early twentieth centuries), marked by the coolie trade known to Chinese diaspora studies; and the renewed immigration of the late 20th century to the present. Written by specialists on the Chinese in Latin America and the Caribbean, this book tells the story of Asian migration to the Americas and contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the Chinese in this important part of the world.

This book assesses the political, economic and geopolitical dynamics that China’s presence has initiated throughout Latin America and the Caribbean between 2008 and 2020. Written by experts across three continents, contributions to this edited volume explore the bilateral relations that China has developed with almost all Latin American and Caribbean countries, charting both the benefits they have brought and the problems that these relations have created for local actors. The book analyses the emergence of new forms of "dependence", considers issues such as the existence of a deindustrialization phenomenon throughout Latin America and ultimately questions whether China and the United States are engaged in a zero-sum game in the region. It also investigates challenges that the densification of the web of China’s relations and exchanges with Latin America and the Caribbean countries pose; not only to the United States and European countries, as traditional partners of these states, but also to Latin American regionalism. Including an extensive set of case studies and local, regional and global-level analysis, China-Latin America and the Caribbean provides an empirically rich resource for students and scholars of Chinese foreign and economic policy, Latin America, the Caribbean and wider geopolitics.

This volume explores the policy dynamics, economic commitments and social impacts of the fast evolving Sino-LAC relations. China’s engagement with Latin America and the Caribbean has entered into an era of strategic transition. While China is committed to strengthening its economic and political ties with Latin America and the Caribbean, Latin America as a bloc is enthusiastically echoing China’s endeavor by diverting their focus toward the other side of the ocean. The transitional aspect of China-LAC ties is phenomenal, and is manifested not only in the accelerating momentum of trade, investment, and loan but also in the China-CELAC Forum mechanism that maps out an institutional framework for decades beyond. While Latin America is redefined as an emerging priority to the leadership in Beijing, what are the responses from Latin America and the United States? In this sense, experts from four continents provide local answers to this global question.

The economic successes of China and India are viewed with admiration but also with concern because of the effects that the growth of these Asian economies may have on the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region. The evidence in 'China's and India's Challenge to Latin America' indicates that certain manufacturing and service industries in some countries have been negatively affected by Chinese and Indian competition in third markets and that LAC imports from China and India have been associated with modest unemployment and adjustment costs in manufacturing industries. The book also provides substantial evidence of positive aggregate effects for LAC economies associated with China's and India's greater presence in world exports, financial flows, and innovation. Chinese and Indian growth is creating new production possibilities for LAC economies, particularly in sectors that rely on natural resources and scientific knowledge.

An analysis of the new physical presence of Chinese companies operating in Latin America and the Caribbean, the associated challenges that they face, and how they are impacting the region and its relationship with the PRC.

With President Hu Jintao's November 2004 visit to Latin America, China signaled to the rest of the world its growing interest in the region. Many observers welcome this development, highlighting the benefits of increased trade and investment, as well as diplomatic cooperation, for both sides. But other analysts have raised concerns about the relationship's impact on Latin American competitiveness and its implications for U.S. influence in Washington's traditional backyard. In C hina's Expansion into the Western Hemisphere, experts from Latin America, China, and the United States, as well as Europe, analyze the history of this triangular relationship and the motivations of each of the major players. Several chapters focus on China's growing economic ties to the region, including Latin America's role in China's search for energy resources worldwide. Other essays highlight the geopolitical implications of Chinese hemispheric policy and set recent developments in the broader context of China's role in the developing world. Together, they provide an absorbing look at a particularly sensitive aspect of China's emergence as a world power. Contributors include Christopher Alden (London School of Economics), Robert Devlin (ECLAC), Francisco González (Johns Hopkins–SAIS), Monica Hirst (Torcuato Di Tella University), Josh Kurlantzick (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace), Xiang Lanxin (Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva), Luisa Palacios (Barclays), Jiang Shixue (Chinese Academy of Social Sciences), Barbara Stallings (Brown University), Juan Tokatlián (San Andrés University), and Zheng Kai (Fudan University).

"Through exhaustive field research and interviews, Ellis inventories, country by country, China's rapidly expanding commercial and diplomatic presence in Latin America and the Caribbean. The irresistible allure of trade with the Chinese is a mixed blessing for the region: to transport raw materials and agricultural goods, a new East-West infrastructure is expanding Pacific coast ports from Mexico to Chile, once again leaving Latin America overly dependent on the export of low-value-added commodities. And although China's motives may be primarily commercial, the implications of its incursions are geopolitical: visiting Chinese leaders have declared Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Venezuela to be "strategic partners." As Ellis documents, China is investing heavily in Venezuelan crude oil, despite worries over Hugo Chávez's volatility and fears of embroiling itself in disputes between Caracas and Washington. China - together with illiberal petrostates - is a vital backstop for Chávez's authoritarian populist project and unrelenting drive to undercut U.S. interests and influence in the region. Inexplicably, Foggy Bottom has seemed largely oblivious to this concerted geopolitical challenge so close to home." -- www.foreignaffairs.com (Oct.15, 2010).