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China, the EU and Latin America : current issues and future cooperation
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48 China theEUandLatinAmerica:CurrentIssuesandFutureCooperation globalisation oftrade culturaland financialflows. Take the example of infrastructure.IfLatinAmericaistosecureitsplaceintheglobalsupplychain andtoimproveregionalenergysecurity it mustinvestin upgradingits infrastructure.TheSantiagoConsensusrepresentsanewpolicyparadigmshiftin theregion.ChileisthebestexampleoftheSantiagoConsensussofar:ithas achievedthehighestpercapitaincomegrowthintheregion. WhileLatinAmericahasachievedrapideconomicgrowthinrecentyears it hasstillbeenmuchslowerthanotherregions especiallyAsia intermsofGDP growthrate.Inthiscontext Chinahasbeena modelforLatin American countriestodiscuss.Whilethesocalled BeijingConsensus isanattemptto sumupChinasgrowthexperience Chinastillhasnoofficialdescriptionofwhat theBeijingConsensusis.AccordingtoChinasowndevelopmentexperience it wouldbe wrongtofollow thesamepaththatothershavetaken without consideringacountrysownsituation.Inreality bothsideshavebeenworking hardtolearnfromeachothersdevelopmentexperience.AlargepartofChinese developmentstudiesfocusedonLatinAmericasdevelopmentexperience includingits economictakeoff the lostdecade neoliberalreformandthecurrentleftturn Xu andZhang2006 .SomeLatinAmericancountriesarealsoveryinterestedinChinas successfuldevelopmentstory.Suchmutuallearningcandeepenourunderstandingof developmentandconsolidatediversedevelopmentmodels. ItshouldbenotedthateventheleftleaninggovernmentsinLatinAmerica aredividedintotwogroups rightleft and wrongleft asanumberofUS scholarshaveobserved Castaneda2006 .Thiscolourfulleftwingpoliticswarns usnottotrytosimplifytheworldtoomuch.AstheObamaadministrationhas foundout theroleofgovernmentbecomesenlargedindealingwitheconomic recession.The WorldBanksleadershavealsoarguedthatthe Washington ConsensusshouldbefollowedbytheSantiagoConsensus WorldBank1999 .In dealingwiththechallengeofglobalisation there willbe moreconsensusor convergenceamongthesethreemodelsinthelongrun. 3.4 GeopoliticalThinkingversustheLogicofGlobalisation Lastbutnotleast geopoliticalfactorsconferatrilateralaspectonSino LatinAmericanrelations.WhetherChinaisathreatinAmericasbackyardor LatinAmericahasbecomeChinasbackyardarequestionsbeingdiscussedbyUS scholarsand reflecta strong geopoliticalapproach to current SinoLatin Americanrelations.CloserSinoLatin Americantieshaveresultedin mixed reactionsin USpolicycircles.MostanalystsappeartoagreethatChinas primaryinterestintheregionistogaingreateraccesstoneededresourcesand