Taking advantage of Latin America’s underdeveloped railway infrastructure, China is aggressively promoting the construction of new rail corridors across the region. The goal is to facilitate the transport of raw materials to Chinese-controlled ports on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, thereby integrating Latin American markets into global supply chains dominated by Beijing. However, this strategy is raising alarms, with concerns ranging from potential environmental damage to the risk of national dependence and threats to sovereignty.
“In addition to the search for natural resources and markets, Beijing could also aspire to monopolize the management of the region’s rail networks, using them as geopolitical leverage,” Cheng-Pu Kao, a Taiwanese analyst from Tamkang University and contributor to Panamanian news site La Prensa, told Diálogo.
According to Kao, Latin American railways are a necessary complement for China, which prefers a high level of control and confidentiality for strategic transport. This drive is exacerbated by the high costs and unreliability of the Panama Canal and a structural surplus in China’s steel industry, which is forcing the country to seek new outlets abroad.
“To absorb the excess steel, it is forced to look for outlets abroad, for example, in the railway sector,” says Kao.
Connecting to ports: A strategic link
Peru provides a clear example of how Chinese railway corridors are strategically linked to Chinese-controlled ports. The Port of Chancay, 70 kilometers north of Lima, is already operational, while the Port of San Juan de Marcona in the southern Ica region is under construction.
“Chinese port projects in Latin America need reliable internal transport systems to function effectively,” Kao explained. Efficient transport of rare metals and agricultural products guarantees China economic advantages that far outweigh the costs of maintaining the railways.
Construction of the Lima-Ica railway, a high-speed train expected to run up to 200 km/h along a 280-323 km route, is set to begin in the first half of 2026. The China Railway consortium will lead the $6.5 billion project under a government-to-government (G2G) model, which bypasses traditional tenders and favors a direct agreement between Peru and China. While the G2G model expedites projects, critics warn it can also limit transparency.
“When Chinese companies build railways, they may resort to corruption to circumvent regulations, barriers to land acquisition, or other obstacles,” Kao said.
Furthermore, the project’s technical complexity — including 44 km of tunnels and 50 km of bridges — raises the risk of cost overruns and significant environmental impact, especially along the coast.
In Colombia, COSCO Shipping, a Chinese state-owned port logistics company, plans to develop a rail link from the interior of the country to Santa Marta on the Caribbean coast. China also recently announced the creation of a group of experts to assist Colombia’s National Infrastructure Agency (ANI) in planning six priority rail projects, including an Interoceanic Corridor.
Environmental and social risks
In Brazil, the Ferrogrão project, a 933 km railway connecting the city of Sinop with the Port of Miritituba, is seen as strategically important for transporting soybeans to Chinese markets. The tender is scheduled for July 2026, and the state-owned China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) has already expressed interest.
“Projects of this type can undermine public safety and social stability. To eliminate local resistance, some of them could involve collusion with informal groups and even the use of violent means,” Kao warned. The primary victims are local indigenous communities, who have long protested the project.
“To export soybeans to China and Europe, it is already impossible for us to fish in the Tapajós River. If Ferrogrão is built, the situation will get even worse,” Raquel Tupinambá, coordinator of the Tupinambá Indigenous Council, told nongovernmental organization Amazon Watch.
The Ferrogrão is part of a larger Chinese-backed transcontinental railway initiative, which aims to connect Brazil with the Port of Chancay in Peru. Backed by a $50 billion investment, this initiative seeks to reduce the route for exports to China by about 10,000 km, offering a strategic alternative to the Panama Canal.
A new form of geopolitical leverage
“It remains uncertain whether the Latin American countries involved will ultimately receive the benefits promised by China, given Beijing’s lack of consistency in fulfilling such commitments,” Kao said. The final risk is that China’s control over critical transport hubs could be exploited to gain geopolitical leverage, for example, in the event of an international conflict like that over Taiwan. The expansion of these projects is part of a deliberate strategy to create leverage and solidify China’s position in the region.
