There's definitely the soft power element, but in this case I think it was relatively transactional. "If us Central American economies formerly recognize the People's Republic, what do we get in advance?" And infrastructure was what China had to offer

Interesting.  Could it also hove something to do with expanding Chinese influence in those countries?

MarsIronPI

They have a massive infrastructure industry with horrendous overcapacity, so they are trying to make train stations, airports, shopping malls and stadiums their primary export

culture

El Salvador Trip report - 2/8

> Much of El Salvador's recent infrastructure development is completed by Chinese companies and subsidized by various Chinese government-linked development funds.

Hmm.  I wonder why the Chinese are doing that.