Every year, Brazilian venture capital firm Monashees takes entrepreneurs from its portfolio companies on an overseas discovery tour. This year, instead of Silicon Valley, the firm headed to the Yangtze Valley, in a clear sign of a new front opening for Chinese investment in Latin America.

China is seeking to expand lending and investment in Brazil and elsewhere on the continent, as it shifts from its traditional resource focus to manufacturing, logistics and even technology. The switch comes amid a prolonged slump in energy prices and an economic meltdown in Venezuela, which had dominated China’s push into the region.

With its own economic growth slowing, China is turning into an international financial investor, looking elsewhere for returns on investment as profit margins at home turn thin. That means considering a broader range of industries than it has been targeting.