President Xi Jinping carried his four-nation tour of the Americas into Costa Rica, where the recently installed Chinese leader discussed commercial and energy projects, as his country tries to extend its diplomatic and economic reach into Latin America as a counter balance to its rivals─the U.S. and Taiwan.

中国国家主席习近平的美洲四国之行抵达哥斯达黎加。在哥斯达黎加，上任不久的习近平商讨了多个商业和能源项目。与此同时，中国大陆正试图将外交和经济触角延伸至拉丁美洲，以制衡其对手美国和台湾在该地区的力量。

Mr. Xi discussed a handful of projects with Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla, including upgrading the Central American country's main oil refinery to process crude oil Chinese energy companies buy from Latin American partners like Venezuela and Ecuador. They also talked about developing a free-trade zone that Chinese manufacturers could use to assemble and ship their products at lower cost.

习近平与哥斯达黎加总统劳拉•钦奇利亚(Laura Chinchilla)商讨了几个项目，其中包括升级哥斯达黎加的主要炼油厂，以处理中资能源企业从委内瑞拉和厄瓜多尔等拉美合作伙伴那里购买的原油。双方还谈到了开发一个自由贸易区的问题。中国制造商可以利用这个贸易区以较低的成本来装配和运输其产品。

Over the weekend, Mr. Xi visited Trinidad and Tobago, the tiny Caribbean nation rich in liquefied natural gas. On Tuesday, he will fly to Mexico for a visit to strengthen trade links with Latin America's largest exporter of manufactured goods and one of China's main rivals for access to the U.S. market. Mr. Xi´s tour culminates in a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama in California later this week.

上周末，习近平访问了液化天然气资源丰富的加勒比小国特里尼达和多巴哥。周二，他将飞赴墨西哥进行访问，以加强中国与这一拉丁美洲最大的制成品出口国之间的贸易联系。墨西哥也是同中国竞争进入美国市场的主要对手之一。习近平此行的最后一环是本周晚些时候同美国总统奥巴马(Barack Obama)在美国加州的会面。

Mr. Xi's visit to Costa Rica is the second by a Chinese president since the two countries set diplomatic relations in 2007. It follows one in May by U.S. President Barack Obama. Ms. Chinchilla visited China in August.

自2007年中国和哥斯达黎加建交以来，习近平此次访问哥斯达黎加是中国国家主席二度出访该国。今年5月美国总统奥巴马曾访问哥斯达黎加。钦奇利亚则在去年8月访问中国。

Central American countries, driven by anti-Communism and Taiwanese commercial influence, have long favored Taipei over Beijing. But Costa Rica's establishment of diplomatic ties with an increasingly powerful China marked a turning point in the region, as U.S. aid declined.

在反共产主义情绪和台湾商业影响力的推动下，中美洲国家长期以来对台湾的好感胜过北京。但哥斯达黎加同日益强大的中国建立外交关系则标志着该地区的一个转折点。与此同时，美国对该地区的援助规模下降。

From Costa Rica's perspective, Mr. Xi's visit is 'primarily about money and seeking investments from China,' said Heather Berkman, an analyst with Eurasia Group, a consulting firm. 'The government is struggling with a large deficit and a serious need to beef up its (energy) infrastructure, so they'll probably be quite open and hoping for some investments from China in exchange for political support.'

咨询公司Eurasia Group的分析师伯克曼(Heather Berkman)说，从哥斯达黎加的角度看，习近平此访带来的主要是资金以及来自中国的投资。庞大的赤字令该国政府难以为继，同时该国又急需加强其能源基础设施。所以他们很可能会相当开放，希望能得到一些来自中国的投资。而中国换取的则是哥斯达黎加的政治支持。

Costa Rica already has a free-trade agreement with the U.S., and U.S. companies like Intel Corp. INTC +3.95% have sizable operations there. But with an economy of about $36 billion and a population of about 4.8 million people, the country is also reaping the benefits of China's growing influence in Central America.

哥斯达黎加已跟美国签署了自由贸易协定，英特尔(Intel Corp.)等美国公司在该国有相当大的业务规模。哥斯达黎加的经济规模约为360亿美元，人口约为480万，这样一个国家也开始从中国在中美洲日益增加的影响力中获益。

During his visit, Mr. Xi signed an agreement to grant Costa Rica a $400 million credit line for infrastructure and energy projects. And the countries formalized a previously disclosed loan of about $900 million for Costa Rica to upgrade its main refinery to process about 65,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

访问期间，习近平签署了一项协议，向哥斯达黎加提供4亿美元信贷额度，用于基础设施和能源项目。另外，两国还正式签署了一项以前曾披露过的约9亿美元的贷款协议，供哥斯达黎加升级改造其主要的炼油厂，使其原油日加工量达到6.5万桶左右。

In 2011, China funded a $105 million, 35,000-seat stadium in San José, built entirely by Chinese workers and mostly with Chinese materials.

2011年，中国资助哥斯达黎加在首都圣何塞建设了一个投资1.05亿美元、有3.5万个座位的体育场。该体育场全部由中国工人建造，使用的基本是中国建材。

Costa Rica has also been a beneficiary of Taiwan. As a gift in 2002, Taiwan built a $28 million bridge across the Tempisque River in Costa Rica's north. It was named the 'Taiwan Friendship Bridge, but was renamed 'The Friendship Bridge' in 2007, when then-President Oscar Arias cut ties with Taiwan to forge diplomatic relations with China.

与此同时，哥斯达黎加也受益于台湾。2002年，台湾在哥斯达黎加北部的滕皮斯克河(Tempisque River)上援建了一座造价2,800万美元的“台湾友谊大桥”。2007年，时任哥斯达黎加总统的阿里亚斯(Oscar Arias)为与中国大陆建立外交关系切断了与台湾的往来，那座桥被重新命名为“友谊大桥”。

In fact, the Chinese appear to be filling a funding hole created by the U.S., which under fiscal pressure has been cutting aid to Latin America, a trend that continued into the 2013 budget proposal. 'The general perception in the country is that China is mainly interested in financing economic projects, while the U.S. cares more about having political influence without offering loans or aid,' said Carlos Murillo, an international relations professor at the National University in San José.

实际上，中国人似乎是钻了美国资金不足的空子。由于面临财政压力，美国一直在削减对拉美的援助，该国2013年的预算草案也延续了这一趋势。位于圣何塞的哥斯达黎加国立大学(National University in San Jose)研究国际关系的教授穆里洛(Carlos Murillo)说，哥斯达黎加一般认为，中国主要对经济项目融资感兴趣，美国则更关注在不提供贷款或援助的情况下发挥政治影响力。

Costa Rica is vying with its Central American neighbors for Chinese attention. Countries in the neighborhood─Panama, Nicaragua, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador─are among the 23 nations that still recognize Taiwan. But despite their ties to the island state, trade between them and China has surged and some governments in the region are also hoping to tap large Chinese investments in the coming years.

哥斯达黎加目前争相与中美洲邻邦获得中国的关注。巴拿马、尼加拉瓜、伯利兹、洪都拉斯和萨尔瓦多都位于这一带，它们是目前仍承认台湾的23个国家中的一部分。尽管这些国家与台湾有往来，但它们与中国大陆的贸易却大幅攀升，该地区的一些国家现在希望未来几年获得大笔中国投资。

A clear case is Nicaragua, where leftist President Daniel Ortega hopes China will help build a transoceanic canal to rival to the Panama Canal, which is currently undergoing a $5.5 billion expansion. Nicaragua, which for a century has toyed with the idea of a building its own canal, hasn't disclosed any details of the plan. But Mr. Ortega said recently it could represent as much as $40 billion in new investments. It isn't yet clear whether China will back such a project.

尼加拉瓜便是很明显的一个例子。其左翼总统奥尔特加(Daniel Ortega)希望中国能援建一条可与巴拿马运河竞争的跨海运河。巴拿马运河目前正在进行耗资55亿美元的扩建。100年来，尼加拉瓜一直有修建属于自己的运河的念头，不过从未披露过具体计划。但奥尔特加前不久说，建这样一条运河最多需要400亿美元新投资。目前尚不清楚中国是否会支持这样一个项目。