Italy has announced its formal withdrawal from the Belt and Road Initiative after joining the China-centered infrastructure and investment project in 2019.
The timing of the announcement that Rome won’t renew its BRI commitment is notable. It came only a day before the EU-China summit, which kicks off on Thursday. The summit will likely be more contentious than usual, with European leaders expected to push China on the treatment of EU firms amid discussions ...
Country: Uruguay
China Bolsters Ties With Uruguay in a Bid to Diversify Its Economic Relations in South America
China is moving to bolster its diplomatic ties in South America in a bid to pressure one of the region's lone holdouts that still recognizes Taiwan and diversify its trade beyond the continent's major powers. Uruguayan President Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou ...
Shifting Trade Winds between China and Latin America and the Caribbean as Free Trade Agreement Negotiations Progress
By Rebecca Ray and Zara C. Albright In 2022, the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region’s trade deficit in goods with China grew to a record 1.4 percent of regional GDP, as both sides of the relationship experienced uneven growth rebounds ...
China’s Free Trade Agreements in the Global South: Quito and Beijing
By Alvaro Mendez and Chris Alden After eleven months and five rounds of negotiations, Ecuador announced last month that it has completed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China. It still has to obtain legislative approval, but we believe it will ...
Lula Pitches South American Trade Pact With China in Bid to Save Mercosur
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called for a South American regional trade agreement with China as part of a desperate bid to save the embattled Mercosur bloc. Lula proposed the idea during a speech on Wednesday in the Uruguayan capital of ...
Uruguay’s Free Trade Talks With China and Desire to Enter Pacific Trade Pact Upsets Regional Neighbors
Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou came under intense criticism from fellow leaders within the South American trading bloc known as Mercosur earlier this month over his government's moves to strike a free trade agreement with China and to enter the Trans-Pacific Partnership (aka CPTPP) trade ...
Analysis from Cobus van Staden
Awkward Timing as Italy Withdraws from BRI
China’s Overseas Fishing Fleet and the Global South
by Chris Alden and Sérgio Chichava While much of the Western attention is focused on the grey zone activities pursued by Chinese fishing fleets and their purported role in the strategic expansion of China’s interests in the South China Sea, less ...