中國總理李克強周一抵達巴西，展開他對拉美的首次正式訪問。他帶來了數以百億計的貿易和投資協議，這是中國對拉美影響力日益增大的最新表現。

上周，一名巴西高官表示，在為期三天的訪問中，李克強預計會見證中巴簽署至少500億美元的投資協議，涉及中國對巴西的基礎設施投資。

在訪問巴西之后，李克強將訪問哥倫比亞、秘魯和智利，繼續(xù)其共八天的南美之旅。

中國與拉美貿易往來日漸增長，其中與這四國的貿易額就占了57%。此外，中國政府對提高在該地區(qū)直接投資——尤其是投資于公路、橋梁及鐵路等項目——的興趣也日益增加。在中國國內，這類項目的建設已趨近飽和。

在一度被視為美國“后院”的拉美，中國日益增加的影響力被部分人視為對“門羅主義”(Monroe Doctrine)的挑戰(zhàn)。美國堅持了兩百多年的“門羅主義”旨在排擠外國勢力（尤其是歐洲勢力）對拉美的影響。

一些中國決策者曾聲稱，中國應擴大對拉丁美洲的投入，以平衡美國在亞洲外交、軍事和經濟領域持續(xù)不斷的巨大影響力。

今年1月，中國國家主席習近平曾作出承諾，要在今后十年對拉美投資2500億美元。這一表態(tài)凸顯出中國在經濟方面對拉美的強烈興趣。

根據巴西方面的統(tǒng)計數字，2001年至2013年期間，中國和巴西之間的雙邊貿易擴大了12倍。自2009年以來，中國已成為巴西的最大貿易伙伴。

然而，在建筑活動大幅減少及大宗商品需求疲軟的影響下，中國經濟明顯放緩，導致2014年中國和拉美間的年度貿易總額同比僅僅增長了0.8%。

受國內經濟放緩影響，中國龐大的國有建筑及基礎設施企業(yè)正把眼光投向海外，尋找修建道路、碼頭、鐵路及機場的機會——這些設施在中國早已無處不在。
（中國進出口網）


Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrives in Brazil on Monday for his first official trip to Latin America bearing tens of billions of dollars worth of trade and investment deals in the latest sign of China’s rising influence in the continent.

During his three-day visit, Mr Li is expected to witness the signing of at least $50bn in Chinese investments in Brazil’s infrastructure, a senior Brazilian official said last week.

Mr Li will then continue his eight-day South American tour with visits to Colombia, Peru and Chile.

The four countries account for 57 per cent of China’s booming trade with Latin America and Beijing is increasingly interested in boosting its direct investment in the region, particularly in the roads, bridges and railways it has already built across its own country.

China’s rising influence in a region once considered America’s “backyard” is seen by some as a challenge to the two-century-old “Monroe Doctrine”, which Washington established to discourage foreign (particularly European) influence in the region.

Some policy makers in Beijing have argued that China should ramp up its involvement in Latin America as a counterbalance to the continued enormous US diplomatic, military and economy presence in Asia.

In January Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged $250bn of investment in Latin America over the next decade, highlighting China’s strong economic interest in the region.

Bilateral trade between China and Brazil increased 13-fold in value terms between 2001 and 2013, according to Brazilian statistics, and China has been Brazil’s biggest trading partner since 2009.

But a pronounced slowdown in China, led by sliding construction and weakening demand for commodities, meant annual trade between China and Latin America as a whole increased by just 0.8 per cent in 2014 from a year earlier.

As a result of the slowdown at home, China’s enormous state-owned construction and infrastructure companies are looking overseas for opportunities to build the roads, ports, railways and airports that are overly ubiquitous in China.