RAY CHEUNG in Santiago

China's booming economy is providing a huge boost to Latin America, the region's economists say.

Fears of job losses in competing industries and declines in foreign direct investment across the region because of Chinese competition had been overstated, the economists said.

"Latin America, along with the world, is growing because of China," said Eduardo Lora, an economist specialising in Chinese trade at the Washington-based Inter-American Development Bank.

His assessment came as President Hu Jintao arrived in Santiago, Chile, for the Apec summit, part of his two-week visit to the region which has already taken in Brazil and Argentina.

With an entourage of 150 mainland businesspeople, Mr Hu has announced significant trade and investment deals with his hosts.

Last week, Beijing sealed a deal to order at least 10 Brazilian planes and promised to buy US$650 million worth of Brazilian beef a year.

Mainland companies yesterday pledged to invest US$19.7 billion in Argentina over the next decade on projects ranging from railway expansion to offshore petroleum projects.

During his stay in Chile, Mr Hu is expected to push for a free-trade agreement with Santiago.

The agreements will boost already surging Sino-Latin American commerce, which increased by 50.4 per cent to US$26.8 billion last year, according to central government statistics.

Despite the gains for the region as a whole, economists note that trade with China has hurt those Latin American countries with a low-skilled manufacturing base, such as Mexico and other nations in Central America, because of the mainland's cheap labour.

However, Mr Lora said the overall impact on these countries from losses in industries such as textiles was overblown.

"The direct competition is restricted to very specific sectors with the effect not that huge in terms of overall job creation," he said.

Economists said fears that China's record breaking foreign direct investment was siphoning funds from Latin America had also been overplayed.