Ecuador’s president Guillermo Lasso is a US-educated, pro-business conservative. But his government has just signed a trade deal with China, and when he secured $1.4bn of debt relief last year, it was from Xi Jinping.“Xi was very understanding,” said Lasso of the Chinese president.
厄瓜多尔总统吉列尔莫•拉索(Guillermo Lasso)是一位接受过美国教育的亲商保守派。但他的政府刚刚与中国签署了一项贸易协定，去年他获得的14亿美元的债务减免是来自习近平。
Experts say Ecuador’s experience with China shows how the US and other western countries risk losing further ground in Latin America to Beijing unless they can offer better trade and investment opportunities.
“习近平非常通情达理，”拉索谈到这位中国国家主席时说。
Chinese trade with Latin America has exploded this century from $12bn in 2000 to $495bn in 2022, making China South America’s biggest trading partner.
专家们表示，厄瓜多尔与中国打交道的经验表明，除非美国和其他西方国家能够提供更好的贸易和投资机会，否则它们在拉美可能会进一步输给中国。
