Fresh from leading a scramble for Africa’s resources in recent years, China has now turned its financial firepower towards South America by offering billions of dollars in credit to cash-strapped leftist leaders in return for access to its oil, food and minerals.

With Venezuela and Argentina all but locked out of global capital markets, Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, has taken advantage of their isolation and thrown a monetary lifeline to Nicolas Maduro and Cristina Kirchner.

On a tour of the region, the Chinese leader has signed a series of oil and mineral deals with Venezuela after offering loans worth $4 billion (£2.3 billion). The socialist government will repay China with crude oil from its huge reserves.

For Mrs Kirchner, whose country faces a potentially