Chinese vessel Ark Silk Road causes consternation among Brazilian naval officers

The visit highlights growing sensitivity around PLA naval activity in Brazil amid heightened US–China competition in the South Atlantic.

This week in brief:

• PLA naval presence in Brazil sparks quiet concern.
• China deepens agricultural and automotive exposure in LATAM.
• US signals counter-positioning near COSCO’s Chancay port.

LATAM–China Monitor (LCM) 

Weekly Briefing | Issue #1 | Coverage: 7th-19th, January, 2026 

Countries covered: Brazil | Argentina | Mexico | Chile | Peru |  

About this Newsletter:

LATAM–China Monitor (LCM) aggregates weekly developments in policy, politics, infrastructure, commodities, energy, FDI, diplomacy, and military cooperation across Latin America and China. This project is designed to support future strategic briefings and political risk advisory services from SinoAméricas (SA).

Brazil:

Military & Diplomacy 

• Watch [14.01.2026] A PLA hospital ship, the Ark Silk Road, docked in Rio, between January 8th and January 15th. This caused consternation among Brazilian naval officers and foreign affairs ministers. The Ark Silk Road’s visit also overlapped with that of a US scientific vessel, the Ronald H. Brown in Brazilian waters. The Chinese hospital ship’s visit was authorised by the Brazilian government in November 2025. A Brazilian naval delegation met the Chinese ship’s crew on January 10th. No medical services were supplied to Brazilians. Source: [Atlantic Council, Lupa Agency].

Infrastructure

• Watch [14.01.2026] The port of Itaqui, in the northeastern state of Maranhão, a vital exit point for agricultural exports to China, has been included in a Brazilian government plan to increase infrastructure auctions in 2026. The Ministry of Ports plans 40 infrastructure auctions this year, including the key fertilizer terminal IQI16. Source: [Jornal Pequeno].

Energy

• Noise [14.01.2026] According to a report published by the Brazil-China Business Council (CEBC), Photovoltaic modules (i.e solar panels) came 4th place in Chinese exports (value) to Brazil. Chinese solar panel exports were narrowly overtaken in 2025, by the sale of a Chinese floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel for oil exploration. Brazilian demand for Chinese solar panel inputs declined between 2024 and 2025 by 20%. However, Chinese-made solar panels still make up 98.3% of total Brazilian purchases. Source: [Canal Solar].

Commerce 

• Noise [13.01.2026] The southern state of Paraná will inaugurate an outpost of the Brazil-China Chamber of Commerce (CCBRC) in the municipality of Guarapuava. The planned chamber will be headquartered at the Cilla Tech Park ecosystem. The Guarapuava CCBRC will launch on the 27th of January. Source: [Rede Sul de Notícias].

Trade

• Noise [13.01.2026] A new report published by the Brazil-China Business Council (CEBC) claims that trade between China and Brazil has increased 8.2% between 2024 and 2025, totalling US$171 billion. This almost doubles the value of two way trade between the US and Brazil: valued at US$83 billion (2025). Brazil also recorded a trade surplus with China in 2025, for the seventeenth year running, at US$29.1 billion. Source: [O Globo, Comex do Brazil].

Argentina:

Diplomacy

• Watch [07.01.2026] Assistant Foreign Minister Cai Wei met with a visiting delegation from Argentina’s ruling coalition, made up of representatives from president Javier Milei’s right-wing La Libertad Avanza group (Democratic Party, Libertarian Party, and the Federal Renewal Party, among others). On January 15th, Beijing expressed its intention to "enhance exchanges” between China and Argentina, in reaction to reports that Milei plans to visit the country in 2026. The Argentine president told the newspaper Clarin that relations with China were “very good,” despite his public criticism of Beijing during his 2023 election campaign. Source: [MFA-PRC, Anadolu Agency].

Agriculture

• Watch [13.01.2026] December 2025 shipments of wheat from Argentina were at their highest levels since 1997, according to shipping and customs data from Buenos Aires. An estimated minimum of three vessels carrying 160k tonnes of wheat left Argentine ports for China in December, responding to peaking demand. Source: [Reuters]. 

Mexico:

FDI

• Watch [16.01.2026] Chinese company Anhui Zhongding Sealing Parts Co. has confirmed the start of construction for a new automotive plant in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato’s Amexhe Industrial Park. The company anticipates completion by the end of 2026. Operations are slated to begin in Q1 of 2027. Plans for the plant, in the city of Apaseo el Grande, outline a project sized 60k square metres. The Apaseo el Grande project will join company operations aimed at nearshoring in the northern state of Chihuahua. Anhui Zhongding Sealing Parts Co’s investment adds to an estimated US$1.7 billion in FDI in 2025 aimed at automotive projects in Guanajuato. Source: [Líder Empresarial].

Trade

• Watch [16.01.2026] Over 360,000 Chinese-made cars were sold in Mexico in 2025, according to data from INEGI, EMA and Nuevo León Automotive Cluster. Chinese cars now make up 19% of sales in the country. The data takes into account Chinese origin brands like BYD, Changan and US brands manufactured in China such as Ford and GM. President Claudia Sheinbaum’s Morena government had indicated its intention to place selective tariffs on some Chinese autoparts and vehicles this year. Source: [El Imparcial].

Infrastructure 

• Noise [15.01.2026] The Philippine ICTSI’s Mexican subsidiary, Contecon Manzanillo, operates out of the port of Manzanillo in Mexico’s Pacific coastal state of Colima. In January 2026, it achieved a record of 12 million Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) shipped since opening in 2013. The company puts this growth down to imports from China increasing by more than 70% in the last four years. Source: [T21] 

Chile:

Soft Power

• Noise [13.01.2026] The Chilean government has awarded Chinese biopharmaceutical firm Sinovac Biotech a contract to supply the country with influenza vaccines for the second year running. Cenabast, Chile’s public health supply agency, has said it will be procuring 8.6 million flu vaccine doses in 2026, for US$14.7 million. Source: [South China Morning Post]. 

Diplomacy

• Noise [09.01.2026] The Chilean ambassador to China, Pablo Arriarán, held a meeting with Huang Qiang, a CPC official in the northeastern province of Jilin. They discussed bilateral cooperation and economic exchange in areas such as “snow tourism.” Key Chilean exports to the northeast of China: wine, cherries and rare earth metals were also discussed. Source: [MRE-Chile]. 

Peru: 

Military

• Signal [16.01.2026] The US State Department has approved a contract to design and construct Peru’s main naval base in the port city of Callao, only 50 miles away from the Chinese-backed, COSCO-run Chancay Port. The contract has been valued at up to US$1.5 billion by the State Department. According to the US government, if the deal goes ahead, up to 20 US government employees could be stationed in Callao until 2035. Source: [Bloomberg]. 

Key:

SIGNAL — Confirmed action with material or strategic impact.
WATCH — Developments indicating possible future action.
NOISE — Informational updates without material impact.

Further reading: 

New York Times, ‘Trump Is Making a Power Play in Latin America. China Is Already There,’ [09/01/2026]. 

The Diplomat, ‘The US cannot push China out of Latin America,’ [17/01/2026]. 

The South China Morning Post, ‘The US has played its hand in Latin America. Will China’s firms there cash out?’ [13/06/2026].

Subscribe for future briefings

This newsletter is free and focuses on aggregation. Analytical weekly briefings, risk reports and corporate advisory services will be available in the medium-term.

Want deeper analysis on LATAM-China relations? Contact info@sino-americas.com

Know someone tracking LATAM-China? Forward this briefing.