Friends of the American Resource Policy Network are aware that, in an effort to secure access to the continent’s natural resources, China’s state-backed mining companies have been investing heavily in Africa (Chinese foreign direct investment in Zambia, for example, has grown by 1,000% since 2001.) According to the Associated Press, China is now expanding its global pursuit of commodities to Latin America, where Chinese loans and investments “in return for a guaranteed flow of commodities” totaled more than $15 billion in 2010 alone.
While its Latin American “loans-for-access” approach appears to focus, at least for now, primarily on oil, the geopolitics of China’s strategic cash infusions, which have made it the third biggest investment source for Latin America, should not be dismissed.
With China ready to “prospect” for natural resources on our doorstep, U.S. policy makers’ current efforts to reassess our mineral resource policies are not only welcome developments, they are vital for our continued economic growth, and national security.
China’s “prospecting” focus broadens to Latin America
Friends of the American Resource Policy Network are aware that, in an effort to secure access to the continent’s natural resources, China’s state-backed mining companies have been investing heavily in Africa (Chinese foreign direct investment in Zambia, for example, has grown by 1,000% since 2001.) According to the Associated Press, China is now expanding its global pursuit of commodities to Latin America, where Chinese loans and investments “in return for a guaranteed flow of commodities” totaled more than $15 billion in 2010 alone.
While its Latin American “loans-for-access” approach appears to focus, at least for now, primarily on oil, the geopolitics of China’s strategic cash infusions, which have made it the third biggest investment source for Latin America, should not be dismissed.
With China ready to “prospect” for natural resources on our doorstep, U.S. policy makers’ current efforts to reassess our mineral resource policies are not only welcome developments, they are vital for our continued economic growth, and national security.
