A new report by a pair of scholars looks at Chinese lending in Latin America and the Caribbean, concluding that while loan amounts remain low by historical standards, the increase in lending this year "is indicative of continued Chinese interest in establishing strong diplomatic ties across the region."

Today, China and Honduras established a formal diplomatic relationship and a top Chinese official said that China is willing to import more from Honduras.

The U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee held a hearing yesterday on "Combatting the Economic Threat from China." Issues that were discussed at the hearing included: bilateral trade, outbound and inbound investment related to China, Chinese lending, TikTok, and China's presence in Latin American

China's Customs recently issued regulatory requirements for imports of honey from Cuba, after the two nations agreed to promote trade last month. This follows a decline of bilateral trade in recent years.

A recently published briefing paper entitled "Trade Aspects of China’s Presence in Latin America and Caribbean," requested by the European Parliament's International Trade Committee, examines the role of China in these regions and proposes EU responses.

This week, China and El Salvador announced that they will start the negotiations for a trade agreement. This will be the fourth set of trade talks between a Latin American country and China that have begun this year, as China's trade with the region has been growing steadily.

Last week, a subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on China's Role in Latin America and the Caribbean. In this piece we highlight the parts of the discussion most closely connected to economic issues in the region.