Economics: China in the new world
or nearly 15 years, China's economic and construction boom, coupled with high commodity prices, has driven soaring demand for steel, copper and other commodities. Latin America has been a crucial partner, with Chile, for instance, accounting for 40% of raw copper imports and Brazil responsible for 49% of soya imports. China's mounting concerns about food and energy security have also prompted engagement with resource rich Venezuela, Peru and Argentina. The China fuelled 'super cycle' has left a path of environ mental destruction and social conflict in Latin America. Now, China's economic slowdown and a slump in commodity prices spell bleaker economic prospects for exporting nations. For instance, Chilean copper company Codelco announced massive lay offs in 2015 as copper prices dropped. As one of the first accounts of post " China boom " Latin America, Kevin Gallagher's The China Triangle adds much to a profusion of books on China Latin America relations. By skilfully framing Latin America's development challenges such as lack of highly skilled labour in a historical context, Gallagher reminds us that commodity led growth is hardly a new phenomenon in the region. The end of the nineteenth century saw the first boom, when Europe and the United States began to import raw materials in serious quantities. Years of dependence on exporting natural resources led to wide ranging policy outcomes in Latin America, from state led industrialization to the Washington Consensus, a set of US prescriptions for economic development in the region in the 1990s and 2000s. The China Triangle is largely premised on the idea that the most recent phase in Latin America's economic development was as much a rejection of the consensus as an embrace of China. As Gallagher shows, that relationship has been rocky in many ways. Gallagher documents the negative effects of booming trade and investment by Chinese and other firms in extraction of natural resources. Growth in mining alone has led to increased chemical leaching, improper disposal of waste and acidic runoff from mines. Chemical leaching has killed fish and caused economic damage in Peru. Deforestation and related flooding in Argentina are thought to stem from the rise in soya production for export to China. Gallagher is careful to note that Chinese companies have shown their capacity to adapt to Latin American laws and norms. In Peru, US company Doe Run performed much worse on a number of counts than Chinese mining firms. But the vast majority of trade, 90%
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