The Inter-American Dialogue hosted a private meeting with the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director General for Latin America on Friday, March 9th. During the meeting, Director General Yang Wanming addressed a group of about ten experts on China-Latin America relations, answering a series of questions on China’s foreign policy toward the Americas. Representatives from the Inter-American Dialogue, the Council of the Americas, The Peterson Institute for International Economics, The George Washington University, Johns Hopkins University, the Chinese delegation to the OAS, and the US State Department were all in attendance. Conversation focused on the outcomes of the 5th US-China sub-dialogue on Latin America, a component of the broader US-China Security and Economic Dialogue. Participants also posed questions regarding China’s educational exchanges, foreign aid in Latin America, political risk calculations, approach to dealing with regional institutions, and investment interests.

Click here for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ summary of the event.

For more information on China’s policy toward Latin America, see its 2008 Policy Paper on Latin America and the Caribbean.