China may be nominally communist but concerns over its financial exposure to socialist-leaning South American partners such as Venezuela and Argentina are spurring a tilt towards their more liberal rivals in the region.

Premier Li Keqiang will endorse Chinese rail investment during a visit this month to Colombia, Peru, Chile and Brazil, promoting a Chinese-built, cross-Andes rail link that would allow Brazilian ore and soya to be shipped from Pacific ports in Peru to Asia, bypassing the Panama Canal.

Increased investment in Peru — home to one of the largest ethnic Chinese populations in Latin America — and elsewhere allows China to diversify its exposure away from the leftist governments it has cultivated over the past decade. Venezuela has borrowed more than $50bn from China, mostly from the China Development Bank, but a steep drop in crude prices has added to stress on its already ailing economy.