Latin America: China broadens its reach

First Africa, now increasingly central Asia and Latin America. China is stretching its tentacles beyond the likes of Angola and Mozambique and wrapping them around Kazakhstan and Colombia in its quest to secure natural resources and new trade routes.

Last month China and Kazakhstan announced a series of deals worth billions of dollars. These included a $1.7 billion loan to Samruk-Kazyna, Kazakhstan’s national welfare fund, a $5 billion loan for a petrochemicals complex, an agreement for Kazakhstan to supply China with 55,000 tonnes of uranium and an understanding for China to help Kazakhstan build a high-speed railway.