LAC trade tops US$57.2B as China pushes deeper ties with Latin America, Caribbean

Jul 04, 2026 News

---

(Kaieteur News) – China on Friday underscored its growing economic engagement with Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), revealing that trade between Jiangsu Province and the region reached US$57.2 billion in 2025, accounting for more than 10 per cent of China’s total trade with LAC.

The figures were disclosed at the opening of the 2026 Conference on Cooperation between Jiangsu (Yangzhou) and Latin American and Caribbean Countries, held at the International Conference Hall of the Yangzhou State Guesthouse and hosted by the Foreign Affairs Office of the Jiangsu Provincial People’s Government.

The conference brought together diplomats from Latin American and Caribbean missions across China, senior Chinese Government officials, academics, international students and journalists to discuss expanding cooperation in trade, investment, technology, culture and education.

Delivering the keynote address, Director General of Jiangsu’s Foreign Affairs Office, Lu Hualiang, said the eastern Chinese province has become one of China’s leading gateways for engagement with Latin America and the Caribbean.

He said Jiangsu recorded a regional Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 14.2 trillion RMB last year, while its manufacturing sector now accounts for 4.1 per cent of global manufacturing output.

Highlighting the province’s growing commercial relationship with the region, Lu disclosed that imports and exports between Jiangsu and Latin America and the Caribbean totalled US$57.2 billion in 2025.

He noted that Jiangsu’s exports, including heavy machinery manufactured by XCMG, photovoltaic equipment and passenger buses have established a significant presence across Latin American markets, while products from the region, including beef, coffee and yerba mate, have become increasingly common in Jiangsu households.

The province has also established 25 sister-city partnerships with Latin American and Caribbean cities and has strengthened educational and cultural cooperation through five Confucius Institutes and the Jiangsu–LAC University Alliance.

Important hub

Yangzhou Mayor Zheng Haitao said the city is positioning itself as an important hub for China-Latin America cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative.

He revealed that Yangzhou’s own trade with Latin America and the Caribbean exceeded 11 billion RMB in 2025, supported by six major industrial clusters including high-end equipment manufacturing, new energy, automobiles, information technology, advanced materials and healthcare.

According to the Mayor, China and Latin America possess highly complementary economies and resources, creating opportunities to expand cooperation in industrial development, trade, green technology and people-to-people exchanges.

Also addressing delegates, Xu Wei, Minister-Counsellor in China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs responsible for Latin American and Caribbean Affairs, said relations between China and the region continue to strengthen despite growing global geopolitical uncertainty.

He said bilateral trade between China and Latin America has expanded rapidly, surpassing US$400 billion before exceeding US$500 billion over the past two years. During the first five months of this year alone, two-way trade reached US$247.3 billion, representing a 17.6 per cent increase over the corresponding period last year.

Xu also highlighted expanding diplomatic and people-to-people links, including visa-free travel arrangements with several Latin American countries and the operation of 24 direct air routes connecting China and the region.

The conference follows the Fourth Ministerial Meeting of the China-CELAC Forum held last year, where China outlined new initiatives aimed at deepening cooperation in trade, development, cultural exchanges and global governance.

Guyana-China trade

Guyana has also seen rapidly expanding commercial ties with China in recent years, driven largely by infrastructure development, construction materials, machinery, manufactured goods and growing demand arising from the country’s oil-driven economic expansion.

China’s Ambassador to Guyana Yang Yang earlier this year disclosed that the partnership between the two countries has entered a “fast track” of development under the strategic leadership of Presidents Mohamed Irfaan Ali and Xi Jinping. According to Yang, bilateral trade between Guyana and China reached nearly US$2.9 billion in 2025, more than double the figure recorded the previous year.

China remains a major supplier of machinery, electrical equipment, vehicles, steel products, construction materials and consumer goods to Guyana, while Guyana exports products including timber, seafood, agricultural commodities and minerals to the Asian nation.

Chinese companies have also become significant investors in Guyana’s infrastructure, energy, mining and telecommunications sectors, further deepening economic relations between the two countries.

Throughout Friday’s conference, speakers repeatedly stressed that expanding trade, investment and people-to-people exchanges remains central to China’s long-term engagement strategy with Latin America and the Caribbean, describing the relationship as one built on mutual development and shared economic opportunities.

---

• China, Jiangsu Province, Latin America and the Caribbean

---