拉美地區現為我國邦交國之密集區域，中共與我拉美邦交國之經貿關係拓展，自 然成為學界及政界關注的焦點。目前，兩岸與拉美國家的貿易關係均非海峽兩岸主要對外貿 易區域，拉美地區國家也多未以亞洲為主要貿易地區。然而值得注意的是，我國與拉美邦交 國在一九九八年的雙邊貿易量，呈現全面性衰退現象。反之，中共在一九九八年與我拉美邦 交國的貿易上，則不僅在總量上維持增長態勢，幾近三倍的進口增加速度，值得注意。

　　　　　Although both sides of the Taiwan Strait have not taken Latin America as their major trading partner and although Latin-American countries have not taken Asia as their major trading partner, recent developments in also economic and trade relations between Beijing and Latin-American countries have aroused great attention because many of these countries have diplomatic relations with the Republic of China. It is noted that the trade volume between the ROC and all the Latin-American countries declined in 1998 while, at the same time, Beijing increased its trade with the area by a wide margin, with the volume of imports from these countries being increased three-fold.