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China’s Limited Advance in El Salvador

In the context of El Salvador’s transformation under Bukele, its relationship with China continues to be both limited and contradictory.

El Salvador has undergone an impressive, yet dystopian, transformation under President Nayib Bukele. Just a few years ago, the historical district was a gang-ridden labyrinth of crumbling structures and dirty market stalls. It is now a glistening tourist mecca of safe pedestrian streets, posh shops and restaurants, and whitewashed civic buildings. At its center is a massive Chinese-built public library, a sprawling glass structure, illuminated at night like a Christmas tree, overshadowing the adjacent Presidential Palace.

During June 2026, the author was in El Salvador, as a guest of the Salvadorian Industry Association (ASI). This article is based on his conversations there with Salvadoran businesspeople regarding China and supporting research.

An array of China-built structures, officially gifted to El Salvador during Bukele’s December 2019 visit to China, symbolize the “new” El Salvador that the president’s effective yet controversial security and other policies have enabled. They include the $54 million library, which reportedly receives 100 tourists and diners in its library-top restaurant for every student seeking books. Chinese gifts also include a tourist pier with high-end beachfront dining at La Libertad, which opened in November 2024 as part of Bukele’s “Surf City” tourism project.

Just blocks from the U.S. Embassy in San Salvador, China State Construction and Engineering (CSCE) is building a massive 50,000-person stadium. It is also doing preliminary work for a new convention center nearby. The project has engendered resistance since it involves paving over a portion of the “El Espinal” forested park, one of the city’s few large green spaces. Chinese companies are also completing a major water treatment facility at Lake Ilopango, which was announced in 2019 but subject to numerous delays.

Although the symbolism of these gifts is powerful, the transformation of El Salvador has arguably occurred in spite of, not because of, the country’s deepening engagement with China. Bukele’s pro-business orientation, public-private sector coordination, and a dramatic reduction of crime and insecurity has re-opened the country for tourism, investment, and other economic activity, including 80 major construction projects. Curiously, China-based companies have invested almost nothing in this boom.

Indeed, the Chinese commercial relationship with El Salvador is increasingly lopsided. In 2024, the country exported a mere $50 million to China, mostly sugar, while importing $3.57 billion from it.

In April 2024, the Bukele government publicly launched negotiations for a free trade agreement, although persons close to the government told the author it has been quietly set aside.

At the retail level, the penetration of Chinese products is notable. Stores concentrating in Chinese merchandise like China Depot, Banda, and Hiper Asia are ubiquitous in the capital, including in iconic locations like Ruben Dario Street and the Boulevard of the Army.

Most Chinese products are imported by local businesspeople. The Unicomer Group, of Salvadoran Mario Siman, for example, is a major importer of Chinese electronics. Locally owned Energy Motors imports BYD and other Chinese car brands, while Zhejiang-based CFMoto is a major importer of Chinese motorcycles.

In telecommunications, China-based companies have captured an estimated 60 percent of the smartphone market. Huawei, which entered the country in 2007, effectively withdrew from El Salvador in 2022. Still, virtually all of the other Chinese brands are present, working with the principal Salvadoran service providers Claro, Tigo, Movistar, and Digicel. China’s Xiaomi set up a flagship store in San Salvador in November 2020, its biggest retail outlet in Central America, and currently has four outlets in the country. Honor has operated in El Salvador since October 2022, including a 2024 partnership with Digicel establishing an “Experience Center” in San Salvador. ZTE similarly established a partnership with Digicel to sell its phones in El Salvador in April 2026 while Oppo signed partnerships with both Digicel and Claro in 2025 to sell its merchandise in the country.

Beyond retail and work on donated construction projects, the Chinese........

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