China's state-owned banks loaned $22bn to countries in Latin America in 2014, according to figures released by US think-tank Inter-American Dialogue.
The money helped struggling economies which have been hit hard by a fall in prices for oil, minerals and other commodities they export.
China loaned $8.6bn to Brazil, $7bn to Argentina, $5.7bn to Venezuela and $821mn to Ecuador last year.
The Chinese financing often comes with generous terms, such as market-rate interest rates and favourable payback periods, and without the macroeconomic and good government reforms demanded by Western lenders, said report author Margaret Myers, director of the Inter-American Dialogue's China and Latin America program.
See more here.