Pointing to the several dozen bilateral agreements signed between China and South American leaders in the course of Xi’s trip, observers have said that the Chinese leader’s visit to the region was a success. Its main accomplishment was the agreement to create an Asia-Pacific free trade zone. Chile, Peru and Mexico have all signed on to the idea.

Experts also pointed out that US President-elect Donald Trump’s hostility to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a trade deal between twelve nations of the Pacific Rim, including Chile, Mexico and Peru and the major economic powers in Asia, but not China, has also affected the Pacific Alliance and its plans to increase trade with the rapidly growing Asia-Pacific region.

Accordingly, he added, Beijing’s ability to prove that it can challenge US hegemony will help determine its status as a great power politically, and not just economically.

“It’s one thing when China frenziedly expanded economically and in terms of trade in North America, and in this context was able to advance its influence in other regions. Washington found this difficult to resist, fighting it with one hand, and shaking hands with Beijing with the other.” But President-elect Trump’s election rhetoric took an unprecedentedly tough stance on China.

“Specifically,” Kharlamenko recalled, “he announced the possible increase in customs duties on Chinese exports to the United States. And this creates a much more serious situation. In the near future we will see the political manifestation of this worsening of relations, and this in turn will impact China’s relations with Latin America.”

As far as President Xi’s trip is concerned, Kharlamenko pointed out that the Chinese leader was able to push forward with agreements on cooperation with these Latin American countries in spite of the ambiguous political situation facing all three countries.

Ecuador, for instance, faces elections in February, whose outcome is difficult to predict, given the background of sharp political changes across the continent, and the country’s strong dependence on outside factors when it comes to its economy.