Xi Woos Latin American Leaders With Promises of Cooperation on Technology

China has taken advantage of Latin America for a long time to supply oil, iron mineral, soybeans and other products, all growth drivers for many Latin American countries. But also a source of frustration for those who expect to grow their economies and exports with more than mining and agricultural products.

China’s leader, Xi Jinping, is trying to prove that he is listening. On Tuesday a meeting of Latin American leaders and officials in Beijing who wanted to expand cooperation in “emerging areas”, including clean energy, telecommunications and artificial intelligence, told.

Speaking a day after China and the United States announced a provisional reduction of punitive tariffs with each other, Mr. XI did not mention President Trump for his name in his comments to representatives of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. But Mr. XI said that China was a more reliable partner in a turbulent world, a topic that also deployed in a recent visit to the countries of Southeast Asia and other diplomatic meetings.

“China will increase its imports of high quality products from Latin American and Caribbean countries and encourage its companies to expand investment in that region,” XI told the audience, which included President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from Brazil and Gabriel Buric, the president of Chile. Faced with “a unilaterism and protectionism wave,” China was ready to help, Xi said.

Other leaders also made indirect references to tariff threats and other Trump administration pressure. “We are here to reaffirm that multilatery and dialogue, not unilateral impositions, are the way of addressing the challenges faced by humanity,” Boric told the meeting.

Mr. XI did not give many details in his high speech, which, in a sign of his interest in the inheritance of China, also proposed “collaboration studies” or ancient civilizations in China and Latin America.

At the same meeting, Mr. Lula said that Chinese demand and investment had been a valuable economic driver for Brazil. But he also suggested that Brazil wanted to climb the technological scale.

“The digital revolution cannot be allowed to create a new technological division between nations,” Lula said. “The development of artificial intelligence should not be the privilege for a few. A fair transition to a low carbon economy also needs broad access to clean energy technology.”

On Monday in Beijing, Mr. Lula said some success in attracting Chinese investors to Brazil. Chinese companies announced plans to invest around $ 4.7 billion there in projects that include expanded automotive manufacturing and renewable energy such as wind and solar energy, according to Mr. Lula’s office. Hello, a Brazil-China proposal association also highlighted to launch low orbit satellites so that Brazilians in remote areas can connect to the Internet. The proposal would be a potential Starlink rival of Elon Musk in these areas. Huawei, a Chinese telecommunications giant, is already a great presence in Brazil.

Chinese officials have been “a bit of tasks that have been assertive that has been the Trump administration in Latin America,” said Ryan Berg, director of the program of America at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. The Secretary of State of the United States, Marco Rubio, visited at least eight Latin American and Caribbean countries since he assumed the position, and said that the region will be a priority for him, including the background of the Chinese influence there.

Trump accused China of controlling the Panama Canal. Under pressure, a Hong Kong company sold its two port facilities on the channel, causing Beijing criticism. Mr. XI did not mention the controversy, except, it seemed, in an oblique reference.

China supports Latin American and Caribbean countries to “defend their sovereignty and independence and in the opponent external interference,” Xi said. “In the 1960s, the mass demonstrations took place in China to support the Panamanian people in the recovery of Sovereigtyty on the Panama Canal.”

Ana Ionova In Rio de Janeiro and Sabrina Duque In Taipei, Taiwan, contributed reports.