中国总理李克强周一抵达巴西，展开他对拉美的首次正式访问。他带来了数以百亿计的贸易和投资协议，这是中国对拉美影响力日益增大的最新表现。
上周，一名巴西高官表示，在为期三天的访问中，李克强预计会见证中巴签署至少500亿美元的投资协议，涉及中国对巴西的基础设施投资。
在访问巴西之后，李克强将访问哥伦比亚、秘鲁和智利，继续其共八天的南美之旅。
中国与拉美贸易往来日渐增长，其中与这四国的贸易额就占了57%。此外，中国政府对提高在该地区直接投资——尤其是投资于公路、桥梁及铁路等项目——的兴趣也日益增加。在中国国内，这类项目的建设已趋近饱和。
在一度被视为美国“后院”的拉美，中国日益增加的影响力被部分人视为对“门罗主义”(Monroe Doctrine)的挑战。美国坚持了两百多年的“门罗主义”旨在排挤外国势力（尤其是欧洲势力）对拉美的影响。
一些中国决策者曾声称，中国应扩大对拉丁美洲的投入，以平衡美国在亚洲外交、军事和经济领域持续不断的巨大影响力。
今年1月，中国国家主席习近平曾作出承诺，要在今后十年对拉美投资2500亿美元。这一表态凸显出中国在经济方面对拉美的强烈兴趣。
根据巴西方面的统计数字，2001年至2013年期间，中国和巴西之间的双边贸易扩大了12倍。自2009年以来，中国已成为巴西的最大贸易伙伴。
然而，在建筑活动大幅减少及大宗商品需求疲软的影响下，中国经济明显放缓，导致2014年中国和拉美间的年度贸易总额同比仅仅增长了0.8%。
受国内经济放缓影响，中国庞大的国有建筑及基础设施企业正把眼光投向海外，寻找修建道路、码头、铁路及机场的机会——这些设施在中国早已无处不在。
（中国进出口网）
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.
