Cynthia Sanborn takes part in the Sixth LA–China Network Forum
On May 30, Cynthia Sanborn, principal professor in the Academic Department of Social and Political Sciences and a research affiliate at our center, presented her paper, “América Latina, China y los Retos Para la Gobernanza de los Recursos Naturales: los Casos de Perú y Chile,” at the Sixth International Seminar on Latin America and the Caribbean and China: Conditions and Challenges in the 21st century (LAC–China Network).
In her presentation, Dr. Sanborn stressed the challenges facing the effective governance of natural resources in the context of growing Chinese demand for investment in countries with areas of high socio-environmental risk—many of which boast vast mineral, forest, and fishing stocks.
Analyzing the cases of Peru and Chile, Dr. Sanborn ponders whether the economic relations between the two countries and China have affected their natural resource governance reform processes, and whether Chinese companies operate differently in these environments than in others. She also looks at how Chinese companies are treated by our governments and asks whether this treatment is any different from that experienced by other foreign investors.
In turn, Dr. Sanborn reflects on the advances and limitations of research on environmental, social, and governance issues—noting that there are many studies on mining and sectoral conflicts, for example, but little on other sectors, and that there are studies on Chinese investments that do not prosper. For Dr. Sanborn, there is a tendency to repeat the same case studies, but general conclusions and lessons still need to be drawn.
Watch a video of her interesting presentation in full here: https://bit.ly/44LclNa
