Beijing's buy-in.

• Position: Chinese foreign aid

ENTERING THE SPACIOUS office of Roberto Pinto Ferreira Abdenur, Brazil's ambassador to the United States, the first thing you notice are the knickknacks--dozens of them. Typical of these is a bronze key to the City of Coral Gables, Florida, not far from a scale model of a Brazilian-made Embraer jet. But the object Abdenur treasures most sits on a special pedestal next to his desk: it's a beautiful inlaid copper vase commemorating the launching of CBERS, the Chinese-Brazilian Earth Resources Satellite.

That souvenir is a reminder of the four years Abdenur spent as Brazil's ambassador to China--during which time he helped develop bilateral relations to the point where China now vies with Argentina for the position of Brazil's No. 2 trading partner (after the United States). Earlier this year, Abdenur accompanied Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on a state visit to Beijing.

"The growth in Brazilian exports to China, and to a lesser extent our imports from China, is remarkable," says the ambassador. "Our bilateral relationship is going beyond the exchange of products. China is beginning to make important investments in our transportation infrastructure, and we are cooperating closely on science and technology."

Indeed, Beijing's influence is increasingly seen and felt throughout the region, from Sao Paulo to Santo Domingo. Among other things, the Chinese are building an oceanfront hotel in Havana, a container port in Panama, and a convention center in Guyana.

Like its ties with Brazil, Beijing's relations with Venezuela have improved significantly under President Hugo Chavez, whose nation is Latin America's leading oil producer. So have its political and trade ties with Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and Peru.

"Once largely absent from the region, China has emerged in recent years to become both a potent competitive threat and an important economic partner," says Dan Erikson, director of the Caribbean...