China, Latin America forge closer links for win-win end (1)

Six kilometers to the very north of the red-wall-surrounded "Forbidden City", Yang Jin, a 27-year-old quality inspector, climbed up a gray "Bird's Nest", which will host the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games, as well as the Games' track and field events and the football finals.

"I hope Brazil will play better in the finals right here in two years, if the players can smell the scent of their home country in the giant latticework structure of steel girders," smiled Yang, a typical fan of Brazilian soccer.

Of the 42,000 tons of steel, which forged the under-construction National Stadium, dubbed the "Bird's Nest", over half were from China's leading steelmaker Baoshan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd, and -- most possibly -- refined from iron ore explored in Brazilian mines.

Thanks to the booming economy and warming political ties between China and Latin America, China's top steel, metal and oil producers and suppliers are now heading for Latin America on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

Meanwhile, China's leading electric home appliances producers, such as Lenovo and TCL, are also setting up factories in Latin America to produce television sets, DVD players, computers and mobile phones.

Enthusiasm for investment

Previously, there have been dozens of small and middle-sized Chinese-funded factories or assembly lines for clothes, shoes, toys and electric appliances in Mexico, Peru, Brazil and other countries in the region.

Chinese companies flocked into Latin America for various reasons when the Sino-Latin American trade surged from some 2 billion U.S. dollars in the early 1990s to 50 billion dollars in 2005.

China's overseas investment reached 5.5 billion dollars in 2004 as the country encouraged more domestic companies to "go abroad". Of which, 32 percent, or 1.76 billion dollars, went to Latin American countries.

"Some of the Chinese companies went there to ensure a steady and long-term supply of raw materials, such as the Baosteel, some did it for local market potentials, and some others have an eye on the nearby markets like the United States," said Xun Guangying, a senior researcher with an international study center attached to Xinhua News Agency.

Investment and factories from China are expected to facilitate local industrial development and boost local employment in Latin America.

"We hope to expand cooperation with Lenovo, especially in the sectors of logistic and manufacture," said Alejandro Cano, director of the industrial development bureau of the Mexican State of Chihuahua, where four Chinese-funded Lenovo suppliers were based. Of the 763-million-dollar foreign investment flowing into the state last year, 15 percent was from China.

"We hope the Chinese experts will help train more local technicians and help in local industrial progress," said Mexican Ambassador to China Sergio Ley Lopez. "We can satisfy China's increasing need for materials and service and every country here wants to sign free trade agreement with China."

(more)

Source: Xinhua