Chinese lending to countries in Latin America and the Caribbean is gaining momentum. For the second year in a row, China's two largest policy banks have increased lending to countries in the region, albeit in much smaller amounts than what they did a decade ago.At the same time, there's word that China has spent close to a quarter trillion dollars over the past twenty years to bail out dozens of countries struggling to stay afloat under the weight of such much debt.Margaret Myers, director of the Asia and Latin America program at the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington, D.C., and Rebecca Ray, two of the world's leading experts in Chinese overseas development finance, joins Eric to discuss how these two seemingly divergent trends actually align with one another and why the Americas is emerging as a key market for Chinese creditors.SHOW NOTES:Inter-American Dialogue: At a Crossroads: Chinese Development Finance to Latin America and the Caribbean, 2022 by Margaret Myers and Rebecca Ray: https://bit.ly/3LYKuTKBoston University Global Development Policy Center: “Small is Beautiful”: A New Era in China’s Overseas Development Finance? by Rebecca Ray: https://bit.ly/3Hnm8iL JOIN THE DISCUSSION:Twitter: @ChinaGSProject| @stadenesque | @eric_olander | @myersmargaret | @bubeckyrayFacebook: www.facebook.com/ChinaAfricaProjectFOLLOW CAP IN FRENCH AND ARABIC:Français: www.projetafriquechine.com | @AfrikChineعربي: www.akhbaralsin-africia.com | @AkhbarAlSinAfrJOIN US ON PATREON!Become a CAP Patreon member and get all sorts of cool stuff, including our Week in Review report, an invitation to join monthly Zoom calls with Eric & Cobus, and even an awesome new CAP Podcast mug!www.patreon.com/chinaafricaproject