This article discusses the main challenges of China's growing presence in South America in the economic and commercial field. While the sharp increase of the Chinese FDI since 2010 and the Asian country's increased demand for natural resources, especially hydrocarbons and minerals, generated a boom period known as the "Golden Decade" (2003-2013), the challenges that these processes have generated in the Southern Cone should not be ignored. The main conclusion of this research indicates that the economic and commercial relationship with China has strengthened several structural paradoxes in the region, such as dependence on natural resources, socio-environmental impact, and the concentration of land tenure in favor of Chinese capital. The documentation used comes mainly from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile (Minrech).