China’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Wang Yi is slated to visit Jamaica this weekend on the final leg of a multi-country visit, which started last Saturday.

Wang Yi is currently visiting the African nations of Egypt, Tunisia, Togo and Côte d’Ivoire from January 13 to 18. He will be travelling to Brazil tomorrow, rounding off his trip to Jamaica on the weekend before departing the island on Monday, January 22.

Brazil and Jamaica are also significant to China given their influence and standing in the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region. In the Caribbean, Jamaica has borrowed the most from the China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China.

Both countries have essential environmental vulnerabilities China must prioritise in future financial engagement, as Brazil constitutes two-thirds of the Amazon rainforest and Jamaica is a small island state that is vulnerable to climate change impacts.

Data from the Chinese Loans to Latin America and the Caribbean (CLLAC) Database show that China’s development finance institutions have supported projects in only Brazil and Caribbean nations through sovereign loans since 2019.

Brazil is the second highest recipient of sovereign loans from the China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China, after Venezuela.

In the Caribbean, Jamaica has borrowed the most from these institutions.