At the China-CELAC Forum in Beijing, the Chinese foreign minister offered to accept more Mexican imports and encouraged Chinese enterprises to invest in Mexico.

At a Beijing forum this week, China has cast itself as defender of the multilateral order and backer of the Global South, with Xi pledging $9.2 billion in credit toward development.

The trade war has heightened China’s need to develop gateways to import the continent’s soybeans, corn and other foodstuffs that are the only viable alternative supply to U.S. exports.

The United States should look more generously at Latin America and South America, Brazil Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said on Monday, arguing that the world's largest economy has "much to gain" from greater industrial development across the continent.

China and Colombia have signed a joint cooperation plan on the Belt and Road Initiative, state media said on Wednesday after their leaders met in Beijing. Burgeoning commerce in recent years has helped grow Beijing's influence in Latin America and the Caribbean,

China is now Latin America's second-largest trading partner, and the region has become the second-largest destination for Chinese investment abroad. Under the Belt and Road Initiative, more than 200 infrastructure projects have been implemented across Latin America and the Caribbean, creating more than 1 million jobs.