China's LatAm financing hits second highest ever in 2015

Chinese financing for Latin America topped US$29bn in 2015, the second highest amount on record, according to the Inter-American Dialogue.

Many of the loans were announced when China's Premier Li Keqiang visited Latin America in May last year, the Washington-based think tank said in a release announcing the figures.

The amount was higher than that provided for Latin America by the World Bank and IDB combined, according to IAD.

IAD said that China continues to be a key source of finance for countries in the region that have "weak access" to global capital markets, including Venezuela and Ecuador.

Venezuela is the country in Latin America that has received by far the most financing from China, with a total of US$65bn since 2007. The figure represents 52% of the Asian nation's financing to the region, said IAD.

Another combined 34% of the total has gone to Argentina, Brazil and Ecuador, the think tank added.

IAD also said that Chinese banks continued in 2015 with their strong financing focus on Latin America's extractive and infrastructure sectors.

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