Reference News Network, November 13 report: The Bloomberg News website published an article titled "China is Quietly Sparking a Startup Boom in Latin America" on November 4, authored by Juan Pablo Spinnetto. The main content is translated as follows:

While the United States is showcasing its military might with warships and bombers in the Caribbean, China is committed to supporting the most promising startups in Latin America.

For entrepreneurs in Latin America, the arrival of well-funded Chinese investors is undoubtedly good news at a time when funding is severely scarce.

Risk investment may mostly operate behind the scenes, but as soon as you communicate with entrepreneurs and investors in Latin America, you can see a clear trend: Chinese companies are coming to examine local operations and seek potential opportunities for cooperation. In their eyes, Latin America is a new frontier for early-stage investment: the middle class is constantly growing, the market is in urgent need of change, and there are still many areas that remain undeveloped. Unlike the fiercely competitive Chinese domestic market, there is still significant room for competition in Latin America.

Giants such as Didi Global Inc. and Bertelsmann Asia Investments are seeking investment opportunities, betting on the next generation of entrepreneurs in Latin America.

This trend was further confirmed last week: Ant Group's international business unit announced an investment in R2, an embedded loan infrastructure company. R2 operates in Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Brazil, and this investment aims to expand credit channels for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Bertelsmann Asia Investments, based in Beijing, has invested in Stori, a Mexican financial technology company. Tencent Holdings participated in the latest round of financing for Uala, an Argentine financial technology company.

Chinese investors are attracted to Latin America to some extent to achieve investment diversification. In Latin America, they can leverage their strengths, especially in the field of artificial intelligence technology, as well as their relationships with China's strong equipment manufacturers, thereby gaining an advantage in the new market. Many investors also hope to build a complete ecosystem, as evidenced by the presence of end-of-line delivery companies such as J&T Express and Hualing Cloud Technology Co., Ltd.

Data from the market research company "Project Proposal" shows that after a sharp increase in Chinese investment in Latin America at the end of the previous decade, Chinese investors' interest has now been rekindled; at the same time, the overall venture capital scale in Latin America has dropped from nearly $1.6 billion in 2021 to about $500 million in 2025.

New Chinese investors provide young enterprises with much-needed "life lines," helping them scale up and create jobs. Many enterprises can also leverage Chinese technology and professional experience to expand their businesses more quickly.

In fact, despite Amazon's recent acquisition of a stake in Lapi Express, a Colombian company, and reports that Amazon has also reached similar deals with quality delivery companies based in Monterrey, Mexico, the growth potential of the Latin American market remains huge, and competition is becoming increasingly fierce. Alibaba Group announced in September that it will build data centers in Brazil and expand its operations in Mexico.

It won't be long before the geopolitical struggle in Latin America revolves around technology, involving which artificial intelligence protocols and semiconductor technologies countries adopt, which cloud computing systems, networks, and undersea fiber optic cables they operate. (Translated by Han Chao)

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7572109129331687974/

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