Chinese President Xi Jinping and Peruvian President Dina Boluarte attend the inauguration ceremony of the Beijing-funded Chancay deep-water port on November 14, 2024. (Source: AFP)

Chinese customs data shows that crane exports to Peru increased by nearly 132% year-on-year, while total exports of machinery - used to load and unload container ships - increased by nearly 76% in the first 10 months of the year to $143 million.

In May 2024, Chinese crane exports to Peru jumped from less than $100,000 just a year earlier to more than $54 million, just as the Biden administration announced a 25% tariff on cranes imported from China to the United States by sea.

China's crane exports to Mexico also skyrocketed, with a 193% year-on-year increase from January to October. In August 2024 alone, exports jumped a record 1,202%.

"It is likely that these cranes were imported by Latin American countries to build ports," said Liang Yan, an economist at Willamette University in Oregon, USA.

Sharing the same view, Ms. Alicia Garcia-Herrero, chief economist for the Asia-Pacific region at French investment bank Natixis in Hong Kong (China), also said that Beijing's massive export of cranes to Latin American countries shows that the world's second largest economy is looking to expand port capacity in these countries to boost exports to the US.

Beijing is actively expanding its influence in Latin American ports, the latest move being this month when the deep-water mega-port of Chancay in Peru was inaugurated during an official visit by President Xi Jinping.

Xinhua News Agency reported, Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Xi said that Chancay Port will greatly strengthen Peru's position as a gateway connecting land and sea in Asia and Latin America. The Chinese leader stressed that Chancay Port is not only a good deep-water port but also the first smart port and green port in South America, which when completed will also bring Peru huge revenue and create many jobs.

The Chancay port is designed to shorten the transit time between Shanghai and Peru from 10 to 12 days to about 23 days and reduce logistics costs by at least 20%. The investor is the Chinese state-owned Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industry Group, which also dominates the global crane market with a whopping 70% market share.

Shanghai Zhenhua is also an active participant in projects under China's Belt and Road Initiative, which aims to enhance regional connectivity through infrastructure. The group has delivered 18 cranes to the Central American country of Panama in the past three months, according to the Maritime Trade Information .

However, Ms. Garcia-Herrero also pointed out potential risks for Chinese-invested ports in Latin America, saying that US President-elect Donald Trump may ban products traded through these ports as a measure to prevent Chinese goods from entering the US market.

Last month, China’s crane exports to the US fell nearly 66% from a year earlier, a decline that is expected to deepen as Mr Trump announced on November 26 that he would impose a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico, a popular destination for Chinese exporters looking to avoid US tariffs.

A report by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) shows that China has invested in port projects in 16 out of 20 countries or territories that are strong in logistics and are major shipping hubs on international shipping routes.

According to the Center, by 2023, more than 27% of global container volume will have passed through transshipment hubs where companies based in China and Hong Kong (China) hold direct stakes. Hong Kong-based Hutchison Port Holdings operates seven ports in Latin America and the Caribbean, four in Mexico, two in Panama and one in the Bahamas.