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Chinese Investment in Latin America’s ‘White Gold’

October 14, 2021

China has long coveted Latin America’s below ground riches, from oil and gas to copper and iron ore. Lately, it has set its eyes on a new mineral, lithium, and its investments are transforming the industry and riling up rivals, including the United States. Lithium is an indispensable ingredient for the global energy transformation, with 71 percent of global supply used for batteries, including in electric vehicles. China dominates global battery production, so not surprisingly, it is on the hunt for a steady supply of lithium. Already, Chinese lithium giants Ganfeng Lithium, Tianqi Lithium and Zijin Mining Group are major players in Latin America’s famed “lithium triangle.”

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Latin America Program

The Wilson Center’s prestigious Latin America Program provides non-partisan expertise to a broad community of decision makers in the United States and Latin America on critical policy issues facing the Hemisphere. The Program provides insightful and actionable research for policymakers, private sector leaders, journalists, and public intellectuals in the United States and Latin America. To bridge the gap between scholarship and policy action, it fosters new inquiry, sponsors high-level public and private meetings among multiple stakeholders, and explores policy options to improve outcomes for citizens throughout the Americas. Drawing on the Wilson Center’s strength as the nation’s key non-partisan policy forum, the Program serves as a trusted source of analysis and a vital point of contact between the worlds of scholarship and action. Read more