In the last 10 years, President Xi Jinping of China has had at least five different meetings with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The meetings culminated in an “all weather strategic partnership” in 2023.

But Venezuela is just one of the many Latin American countries that China is courting.

Even though thousands of kilometers separate them, China became Latin America & the Caribbean’s second-largest trading partner in 2021, with almost $450 billion worth of goods exchanging hands, up from $12 billion in 2000, or almost a 40-fold increase.

The region presents an attractive investment proposition for China because of its resources and markets, Margaret Myers, director of the Asia and Latin America Program at the U.S.-based think tank Inter-American Dialogue, told CNBC.

“In Latin America, China’s looking for soy, above all, to address what is a fairly critical food security challenge at home. ” Myers said.