Chinese sovereign wealth funds in Latin America and the Caribbean: Supporting the ‘Go Global’ strategy

China’s expanding presence in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has become a defining feature of the global economy in the 21st century, with its Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) playing a critical yet underexplored role in this process. Drawing on the eclectic paradigm and the concept of ‘state-enabled globalisation’, this paper analyses whether Chinese SWFs’ joint investment targets sectors prioritised by the country’s industrial policy or market profitability; whether these SWFs act as catalysts for the internationalisation of Chinese firms; and whether their investment decisions reflect market forces or strategic national objectives. To address these questions, we develop a novel database of Chinese SWF investment in LAC between 2000 and 2020, identifying transactions exceeding US$65 billion across multiple economies and sectors. The results suggest that Chinese SWFs operate at the intersection of commercial and policy-driven logics, challenging conventional assumptions about the role of the state and global investment governance. This paper advances scholarship on China–LAC relations by demonstrating that Chinese SWFs function not merely as financial investors but as instruments of state-led internationalisation under the ‘Go Global’ strategy, with significant implications for regional development and global economic governance.