China's emergence as a strong trade partner in the Western Hemisphere is having far-reaching implications that may be little appreciated or understood, writes COA Vice President Eric Farnsworth in The Los Angeles Times.

COA Vice President Eric Farnsworth spoke at a panel discussion on China's emerging role in Latin America and the Caribbean at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

A new Chinese financing plan provides $20 billion in loans for Venezuela. The series of accords signed includes plans for a joint venture for exploration in the oil-rich Orinoco belt and secures Venezuelan oil for energy-hungry China.

Brasilia plays host this week to its fellow BRIC members, highlighting Moscow and Beijing’s hemispheric ties. China’s President Hu Jintao will also visit Venezuela and Chile while Russia's Dmitry Medvedev heads to Argentina.

Membership in the Trans-Pacific Partnership could reengage Washington at a time when Asia and Latin America are signing new trade pacts.

Council of the Americas supports the Trans-Pacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement to expand trade and investment with Australia, Brunei, Chile, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. “TPP may well be the most promising opportunity for hemispheric trade expansion that includes the United States,” says the COA submission.

After a trip to Singapore, COA’s Eric Farnsworth talks with AS/COA Online about the APEC summit, progress in charting a trans-Pacific trade agenda, and China's economic role in Latin America. "I see China as being a real engine of South American economic restoration," says Farnsworth.