A group of Latin American coun-

tries have set themselves up as the

next champions of globalization.

Their efforts to combat the rising tide

of trade protectionism and national-

ism could not come at a more oppor-

tune time.

The push was in evidence in mid-

July, when the presidents of Chile,

Colombia, Mexico and Peru met to

discuss how to expand the reach of

the Pacific Alliance trade bloc, of

which they are members.

“We have new problems: global

warming, tariff war, aging popula-

tion, but we also have new tools that

we never had before,” said Chilean

President Sebastian Pinera. He called

on the alliance and its growing list

of partners to “show the world the

path and the leadership to make the

opportunities stronger than the dif-

ficulties”.

None of the four member countries

of the Pacific Alliance — which has

a combined population of 225 mil-

lion and combined nominal GDP of

almost $2.2 trillion — are global pow-

erhouses. And that is what makes

their stance for globalization even

more impressive. The bloc has come

to realize that countries are better off

working together than against one

another, and that nationalism and

trade barriers are self-defeating.

Their push is even more remark-

able because it is happening in Latin

America, which has a long history of

nationalistic governments.

Over the past few years, several

Latin American heads of state have

opposed the Pacific Alliance and the

ideas it espouses, including Rafael

Correa, the former president of Ecua-

dor.

The bloc aims to build a sprawling

trade network, in global scope not

unlike the China-proposed Belt and

Road Initiative.

ByXxxxx xxxxx

WORLDWATCH

SeeGlobalization,page

Globalized

trade’snew

champions

emerging

By Sergio Held

Soybeanplanting

increasesacross

China,following

anationalplan

torejuvenatethe

crop’sproduction

ByWANGXIAODONG

and ZHOUHUIYING

in Hailun, Heilongjiang

S

un Anfu, a farmer in an area of

Heilongjiang province known for

its high-quality soybeans, now

devotes all his land to the crop,

having increased the proportion continu-

ally in recent years.

In 2017, of his 100 hectares of land in

Haiwang village in Hailun, one-third was

sown with soybeans and the rest with corn.

Last year, the subsidy for planting soy-

beans increased from a year earlier. In

response, Sun expanded his soybean plant-

ing and now it is the only commodity he

grows.

SeeSoybeans,page

LIMIN/CHINADAILY

Inside

Restoring order

a top priority

in Hong Kong

SPOTLIGHT,PAGE16-

Influence of ancient

China’s porcelain

LIFE,PAGE

CHINADAILY

GLOBAL WEEKLY AUGUST 9-15, 2019

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