Sino-Latin American cooperation on transportation infrastructure: characteristics and impacts

Abstract Since the twenty-first century, China and Latin American countries have continuously strengthened cooperation across political, economic, and cultural domains. Particularly since the extension of China's Belt and Road Initiative to the Latin American region, international assessments of China-Latin America cooperation have become polarized. Scholars from the United States and some Latin American countries view China's infrastructure cooperation in the region as a form of "neocolonialism." This paper examines China-Latin America transportation infrastructure cooperation between 2009 and 2023, employing South-South cooperation and postcolonial theoretical perspectives to analyze the characteristics of this cooperation and its socio-economic impacts on Latin American countries. The study concludes that China-Latin America transportation infrastructure cooperation not only aligns with but also demonstrates innovation within the framework of South-South cooperation. However, this collaboration still faces numerous challenges, necessitating enhanced policy coordination and improved project design between China and Latin American countries to advance mutually beneficial cooperation in the future.