China fulfilling global ambitions - with loans and strings attached

El Chaco, Ecuador

WHERE the Andean foothills dip into the Amazon jungle, nearly 1,000 Chinese engineers and workers have been pouring concrete for a dam and a 24km underground tunnel. The US$2.2 billion project will feed river water to eight giant Chinese turbines designed to produce enough electricity to light more than a third of Ecuador.

Near the port of Manta on the Pacific Ocean, Chinese banks are in talks to lend US$7 billion for the construction of an oil refinery, which could make Ecuador a global player in gasoline, diesel and other petroleum products.