Keen to bank on international investors' disaffection for cashstrapped Latin American economies, China is using its vast liquidity surplus to exert its infuence over commodity-rich countries in the region. Thus, it agreed to a US$20bn oil-for-loans deal with Venezuela in April 2010, which requires the latter to supply 700,000b/d by 2015 in order to repay the loan. Volumes could rise even higher, with the Venezuelan government aiming to export 1mn b/d to China by the mid-2010s. China has adopted a somewhat similar approach to its trade relations with Ecuador, lending billions of dollars in exchange for future oil provision, and it is now the Andean nation's top creditor.
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