| Summary: | The People’s Republic of China has been increasing its trade in goods and products with South America. In particular, the Mercosur countries have become one of its main suppliers of agro-commodities, mainly soybean. This crop is associated with the growing consumption of Chinese agro-inputs subject to intellectual property rights. The article analyses the China-Mercosur relationship based on the data available on soybean exports and agro-chemical imports, and drawing on information about herbicides and genetrically modified (GM) soy plants authorized to be produced in Mercosur countries. One of the study’s key findings is that a close connection exists between the authorization of these plants and the increasing number of Chinese herbicide patents, and most importantly, that these patents precede the generation of new GM crops.
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