This chapter empirically examines the factors behind China’s growing economic influence in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) from 2001 to 2020. It challenges conventional explanations focused on the commodity boom and ideological affinities, instead demonstrating that Chinese actors filled economic voids left by declining US presence. Using a novel metric of Chinese economic actors’ presence and econometric models, the analysis shows that decreased US economic weight significantly correlates with increased Chinese activity. The chapter also explores sectoral patterns of Chinese engagement and uses a conjoint experiment to reveal that LAC preferences for foreign investment are driven more by economic impact than investor nationality. These findings support the book’s central argument that China’s economic displacement of the US in LAC was primarily due to filling gaps left by US retrenchment, rather than deliberate Chinese strategy or inherent preference for Chinese goods.