China has become the main trading partner of Latin America

However, the diplomat emphasized that the region is, on a political level, more aligned with the United States.

Excluding Mexico, total trade flows — imports and exports — between Latin America and China were nearly $247 billion last year, according to the latest available data, well above $174 billion with the United States.

The 2021 data lacks trade figures for some countries in the region, but these balance each other out in terms of the US-China bias.

In contrast to Latin America, Mexico’s trade flows with the United States amounted to $607 billion last year, compared to $496 billion in 2015. Its trade volume with China was $110 billion, compared to $75 billion six years earlier.

The White House and the US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

#InPhotos l Joe Biden receives presidents at Summit of the Americas.

Summit of the Americas kicks off

President Joe Biden opened a summit on Wednesday intended to serve as a platform to showcase America’s leadership in America.

Photo: Frederick J. Brown/AFP

Colombia’s president reaches the top

The Colombian president asserts that he has arrived with a successful immigration policy and a climate action strategy in which he has achieved achievements that he can show.

Photo: Daniel Bisrel/Reuters

Alberto Fernandez reaches the top

Argentina’s president, Alberto Fernandez, criticized the absence of some presidents from the summit.

Jim Watson/AFP

“It’s not the way”

Chilean President Gabriel Borek stressed on Monday that exclusion of countries such as Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela from the Summit of the Americas by the United States “is not the way to go” because historically it has not yielded results.

Jim Watson/AFP

quiet moment

US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden dance together as they welcome leaders to the Summit of the Americas.

Kevin Lamarck/Reuters

Pedro Castillo Peru Joe Biden

The Peruvian Congress authorized President Pedro Castillo to travel to the United States to participate in the Ninth Summit of the Americas.

Jim Watson/AFP

Mexican acting

After the President of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, announced that he would not attend the Summit of the Americas, Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard attended on his behalf.

Kevin Lamarck/Reuters

Biden Summit

US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden talk to each other during the Ninth Summit of the Americas, in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Kevin Lamarck/Reuters

In an apparent effort to offer an alternative to China, senior US officials said Biden will announce a “Partnership of the Americas” plan at the Los Angeles summit that will focus on promoting recovery from the pandemic based on existing trade deals.

Its goal will be to mobilize investment, revive the Inter-American Development Bank, create clean energy jobs and strengthen supply chains, officials said. However, such an initiative could face protectionist opposition from the United States, as well as questions about how the region’s widely diverse economies will succeed.