China offered a line of credit to Latin American and Caribbean countries at a summit in Beijing, with the event attended by leaders such as Brazilian President Lula. China’s Xi thinly criticized US tariffs at the event.

China extended a credit line of $9.2 billion (€8.3 billion) to Latin American and Caribbean countries at a summit in Beijing on Tuesday, with one catch — the credit would be in the Chinese yuan currency.

The move, which excludes the global reserve currencies like the US dollar, is meant to push Chinese currency domination at a time the Asian superpower has been deeping its strategic ties with the Latin America region.

“Although China lies far from the Latin American and Caribbean region, the two sides have a time-honored history of friendly exchanges,” Chinese President Xi Jinping told the opening ceremony of the China-CELAC Forum.

Leaders such as Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Chilean President Gabriel Boric and Colombian President Gustavo Petro were among those in attendance.

Xi likened the summit with the Latin American and Caribbean nations to a “great, sturdy tree.” He then announced that China will implement a visa-free policy for five nations from the region and eventually extend it to more countries. Xi did not name the five countries at the summit.

Two-thirds of Latin American countries have joined Beijing’s massive Belt Road Initiative (BRI) infrastructure program. In countries like Brazil, Peru and Chile, China has surpassed the US as the biggest trading partner.

‘Bullying’ will cause ‘self-isolation,’ says Xi

In a thinly veiled dig at the United States, Xi said “There are no winners in tariff wars or trade wars. Bullying and hegemony will only lead to self-isolation.”

“The world today is undergoing accelerated transformations unseen in a century, with multiple risks intertwined and overlapping,” the Chinese leader said.

This comes a day after China and the US agreed to halt new import levies for at least 90 days — a move which US President Donald Trump claimed was a “total reset.”

Under this agreement, they will both slash tariffs by 115% which means that Washington now levies a 30% tax on Chinese goods while Beijing has a 10% tax on American goods.

Edited by: Wesley Dockery

DW News