Latin America Barometer Report: 65% of Latin American respondents believe China’s influence is positive

The Latin American polling organization "Latin America Barometer" (Latinobarómetro) released the "2026 Annual Report" on October 2, local time. The survey shows that 65% of Latin American respondents believe that China's influence on the region is positive; in contrast, 57% of respondents have a positive evaluation of the influence of the United States.

The Latin American Barometer is a non-profit polling organization headquartered in Chile that has been tracking Latin American society's views on political, economic and international affairs since 1995. The 2026 survey covered 17 countries in Latin America and completed more than 19,000 interviews. The survey period was from May 7 to June 17.

After the release of this report, it attracted the attention of many Latin American media.

Chilean media El Mostrador noted that 70% of respondents in Chile believe China’s influence is positive. In Peru, this proportion reaches 72%; in Argentina it also reaches 61%. In contrast, 62% and 43% of the two countries have a positive evaluation of the influence of the United States respectively.

The report quoted the analysis of Marta Lagos, director of the "Latin America Barometer", saying that over the past 20 years, Latin American countries have become increasingly diversified in their connections with the world, and their exchanges with economies such as China have continued to increase. China's development has also attracted the attention of more and more Latin American people.

The Brazilian digital media "Poder360" reported that in Brazil, 64% of the respondents had a positive evaluation of China's influence, significantly higher than the 49% who had a positive evaluation of the United States' influence. The report pointed out that this result echoes the trend across Latin America - from the regional average, 65% of the respondents have a positive evaluation of China's influence, compared with 57% in the United States.

The Chilean version of Spanish newspaper El País quoted Marta Lagos, director of the Latin American Barometer, as saying that the current social mentality in Latin America is changing. Faced with problems such as underdevelopment, more and more Latin American people are beginning to observe the outside world from a more diverse perspective. She specifically mentioned that Latin America is turning more attention to China and highly appreciates China's development achievements.

Colombian media Caracol Radio started from the daily lives of ordinary people to explain the reasons behind this trend. The report quoted analysts as saying that in recent years, Chinese goods have enabled more Latin American consumers to obtain products that were previously unaffordable at relatively low prices. This consumption experience, which is directly related to daily life, has further enhanced local people’s positive perception of China.