Chinese firms eyeing S American market

"While we came to the continent way behind some developed countries, we believe in our technology and determination," said Zhao.

Chinese companies' presence in South American countries has also boosted local employment. According to Sinopec, local employees represent a major force of the company's two subsidiaries in Colombia - 99.2 percent at Mansarovar and 93 percent at New Granada.

Many other Chinese companies are also expanding their business on the South American continent.

The State Grid Corp of China, which runs the majority of China's electricity distribution networks, has brought to Brazil its own technology for ultrahigh voltage transmission, which is key for large countries like China and Brazil, with an 800 kilovolt electricity transmission capacity on a network that will cover more than 4,000 kilometers by 2019.

Other key investors include China Three Gorges Corp, CNOOC and CNPC.

President Xi Jinping visited Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and Cuba in 2014, pledging tens of billions of dollars in new loans and foreign direct investment, primarily in the form of infrastructure and energy projects.

However, Chinese companies are also facing various challenges and difficulties in the region during the entry phase, as well as in their operations, which is part of the learning process for Chinese firms regarding how to operate on the ground.

According to Liu, besides crime, violence and a lack of security, resistance from environmentalists and indigenous groups against industrialization and mergers and acquisitions are also among the challenges faced by Chinese companies.

According to an article by Lourdes Casanova, a senior lecturer of Cornell University, China is the world's most important trading nation, with a trade volume of $4 trillion, and the most important trading partner for 100 countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru and Uruguay.

Now, China has moved beyond focusing only on trade to become a major investor, whose presence is felt in primary sectors such as mining, oil, infrastructure construction, banking and utilities, and Latin America needs to both partner and compete with China, she said.