China will lend the city of Buenos Aires $1.4 billion to build a new subway line using Chinese technology, leading Argentine newspaper Clarin reported on Saturday. The 15-year loan includes a five-year grace period. Clarin said the interest rate was expected to be "low," around 4 percent to 5 percent, and cited unnamed city government sources saying construction on the line would start next year.
The deal is one more example of China's surging influence in Latin America, where investment and trade deals by the Asian giant are undermining US dominance. China and Argentina agreed last July to invest about $10 billion over several years to revamp the South American country's dilapidated railway system and build a subway for its second-largest city, Cordoba.