Bolivia Inaugurates Steel Plant Built With Chinese Loan

A Bolivian flag is pictured in front of the Chinese funded steel industrial complex 'Mutun' during its inauguration near Puerto Suarez, in the Bolivia-Brazil border on February 24, 2025. AIZAR RALDES / AFP

Short on foreign currency, Bolivia inaugurated a steel plant Monday that it hopes will reduce its reliance on metal imports, thanks to a loan from China.

The Mutun megaproject in Puerto Suarez, near Bolivia’s border with Brazil, was built at a cost of $546 million, financed in large part by the Export-Import Bank of China — expanding its economic and political footprint in South America.

  • Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis.
  • Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations.
  • Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South.

China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening.

Subscribe today for unlimited access.

OR

Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More
by Agence France-Presse

Most Read

1
Developing Countries’ Debt Servicing Costs to China Are Significant, but Nowhere Near as Much as Other Creditors
2 Chinese Military Fans Discuss Why Indonesia Bought Rafale Instead of J-10C
3
Chinese Cargo Planes Secretly Ferrying Supplies to Iran, Claim Online Sleuths
4
Indonesia Goes Nuclear, Taps China and Russia for Modular Reactors
5
Thailand in Last-Minute U.S. Talks as 36% Tariff Looms
6 From J-10C to Kaan? Indonesia’s Fighter Jet Deal With Turkey Shocks Chinese Military Fans

You Might Like

Bolivia Announces $1 Billion Deal With CATL Unit to Build Lithium Plants

Bolivia said Tuesday it had signed a $1 billion deal with China’s CBC, a subsidiary of the world’s largest lithium battery producer CATL, to build two lithium carbonate production plants in the country’s ...

Zimbabwe Gets China, India Loans to Boost Power Generation

Zimbabwe has obtained three separate loans of just over US$108,3 million from the Export-Import Bank of China and Export-Import Bank of India to be used for power generation projects and broadband expansion. ...

Kenyan Borrowing From Japan Surges as Chinese Lending Slows

New data from the National Treasury in Nairobi revealed a dramatic surge in borrowing from Japan, up 162% to more than $1.3 billion during the period of June 2018 to June 2019. The ...

World Bank: China Sinks Further Into Debt While Investors Seem to Love Buying African Sovereign Bonds

On average, the external debt burden of low and middle-income countries remains moderate. The ratio of external debt to GNI averaged 26 percent at the end of 2018, unchanged from the prior year ...

What is The China-Global South Project?

Independent

The China-Global South Project is passionately independent, non-partisan and does not advocate for any country, company or culture.

News

A carefully curated selection of the day’s most important China-Global South stories. Updated 24 hours a day by human editors. No bots, no algorithms.

Analysis

Diverse, often unconventional insights from scholars, analysts, journalists and a variety of stakeholders in the China-Global South discourse.

Networking

A unique professional network of China-Africa scholars, analysts, journalists and other practioners from around the world.

More about CGSP