The Latin American and Peruvian side of the Indo-Pacific: The China factor and the EU’s New Agenda

The European Union (EU) has recently begun to redirect its attention to Latin America. The countries that make up the region are important not only because of their combined importance in terms of territorial size and demographics but also because of their international political relevance as components of the Global South and their wealth in raw materials. The EU remains the largest investor in Latin America, although in the past decade it has been displaced in the trade arena by China, whose relationship with the former has deteriorated in recent years to the point of being labeled as a “systemic rival.” This chapter will analyze the deterioration of the relationship between the EU and China, the intensification of ties between the Asian country and Latin America in general and Peru in particular, and finally, how the European Union is responding to these new realities. Peru is a significant subject of study, not just because it is currently in the spotlight as the host of the 2024 APEC Ministerial Meeting but also due to the construction of the Chancay mega-port, which has the potential to reshape the Peruvian and Latin American relationship with the Asia-Pacific region.