How this report was developed

To understand how China takes part in South America's energy transition, we combined field interviews with official data from 6 countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, which together cover close to 82% of the region's territory and 85% of its population. Between April and October 2025 we spoke with government officials, companies, academics, and other experts, and cross-checked that information against each country's official energy matrices and specialized literature. This let us identify what recurs across countries, what varies, and the role China plays in each one.

Global electricity consumption will rise significantly over the coming decades, driving major changes in generation sources and consumption patterns. No country plays as significant a role in this process as the People's Republic of China. Its electrification trajectory is unparalleled and has become an increasingly central factor in how the country projects its influence globally. For South America, the political, economic, and social implications will be profound. This is the starting point of our research.

This microsite brings together the study's main findings through a narrative that combines geopolitical analysis, a perceptions study, and an assessment of the governance and regulatory frameworks of six South American countries. From a comparative perspective, it shows how China's strategic priorities intertwine with the region's political, economic, and institutional conditions at a moment of deep transformation in the energy sector.

The study seeks to understand the nuances and complexities of China's growing involvement in this transformation. To do so, it adopts a local perspective and avoids starting from preset definitions. South American actors themselves explain what they understand by energy transition and how they assess the opportunities and risks associated with the presence of a power with clearly defined interests in the region.

When and how does Chinese involvement strengthen or weaken each country's energy-transition goals?

Design and digital management

Production
Graphic design of the report and microsite

About Fundación Andrés Bello

Fundación Andrés Bello is an independent think tank based in Bogotá dedicated to the strategic analysis of relations between China and Latin America and the Caribbean.

For more information about our work, visit www.fundacionandresbello.org.

About this publication

This publication was produced by Fundación Andrés Bello with its own institutional resources, as part of its research agenda and its commitment to the independent production of knowledge about China–Latin America relations.

Part of the research and data underlying this report were developed under an earlier project carried out for the United Kingdom's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). Under the terms of that project, Fundación Andrés Bello retains the intellectual property rights to the research and data collected.

This publication is an independent work, developed under a different analytical framework and aimed at a public audience. Its content was produced exclusively by Fundación Andrés Bello and does not reproduce or replace the report prepared for the FCDO.

Acknowledgements

This report underwent a peer-review process by independent specialists. Fundación Andrés Bello thanks the reviewers for their valuable observations and recommendations, which helped strengthen the rigor and quality of the analysis.

Reviewers commented on preliminary versions of the manuscript. Responsibility for the final content of this publication rests exclusively with the authors.

• Jack Lo, environmental journalist (Peru)
• Dr. Sergio Cesarín, Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero (Argentina)
• Fermín Koop, Dialogue Earth (Argentina)
• Dr. Juan Enrique Serrano, Universidad de Chile (Chile)
• Andrés Pogo, Universidad Internacional de Ecuador (Ecuador)
• Anonymous reviewer (Brazil)