China is hungry for energy. Between the 1970s and the end of the 1990s, China quadrupled its economy. With plans to quadruple its economy once again by 2020, China has embarked on a path of faster industrialization, leading to unprecedented energy demand. In the mid-1990s, China became an oil exporter and then an oil importer. With record increases in oil, natural gas and other energy-related imports, global energy and resource markets have come under considerable pressure, making energy security a national priority . As China has not built up substantial strategic reserves and is unable to meet its own energy needs, dependence on external energy supplies has increased significantly. As a result, China has turned to Latin America in search of new energy resources. China has become the world's largest producer, consumer and importer of coal, accounting for almost half of global coal consumption. In 2011, nearly 70% of China's energy consumption came from coal. From 2000 to 1012, coal consumption doubled. With such high levels of coal consumption, China has faced devastating environmental and health damage. Cancer, more commonly lung cancer, is now the leading cause of death in Beijing. There has also been an increase in environmental damage with the rise of heavy manufacturing in the mining sector, which has led to the expansion of deserts, the drying out of agricultural land and the plateauing of agricultural yields. Not only does this problem affect China, but it has become a global economic security problem. “Global energy prices influence every aspect of the global economy. » In 2013, China's oil consumption growth accounted for one-third of global oil consumption growth, and it is projected...... middle of paper ....minent. That China is trying to control Latin American oil and profit from this developing region. The second believes that this new rise of the Chinese in the region is positive and can generate great economic and development potential. This is due to the mentality of Latin America which wants to experience great economic improvements like China, while reducing its dependence on the United States. The third school of thought is that "China's energy and related activities in Latin America, which have increased as they have in recent years, do not constitute a particular pattern of planned expansion in the region, and that the Latin America can only benefit from China's presence. Going forward, “Latin American governments must consider how their long-term interests can be served by forging closer ties with China, while keeping in mind the importance of their traditional U.S. market.”.