Brazil has become the third-largest destination for Chinese investment in the world, a study shows. Dozens of projects in various sectors attracted $4.2 billion last year, Reuters reported, BTA reported.
A study by the Brazil-China Business Council, a think tank, shows that Chinese direct investment in Brazil more than doubled in 2024 compared to 2023. Chinese companies continue to invest in energy projects and are entering new areas such as electric vehicles and food delivery.
“The arrival of China is excellent news, it will cause a competitive shock for other companies in Brazilian industry,“ said Wallace Moreira, secretary of state for industrial development, innovation, trade and services. "We need these investments to develop production chains here in Brazil," he added.
However, many Chinese factories in the country continue to import parts made in China for final assembly in Brazil, including some electric vehicle manufacturers. This type of investment creates fewer jobs and leads to fewer new plants in the production chain, which is key to economic growth, Moreira stressed.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met twice last year, announcing partnerships in a range of sectors, while U.S. President Donald Trump has escalated the trade war, imposing heavy tariffs on products from both sides.
Chinese companies are looking to expand in Brazil and other emerging economies as they pull back from the United States, said Tulio Carriello, lead author of the study by the Brazil-China Business Council. “This is a trend driven by these geopolitical tensions,” he said.
Although Chinese investment in Brazil is growing, it is lower than the average of $6.6 billion per year between 2015 and 2019, when it was focused on a few large energy projects such as electricity grids and offshore oil fields, Cariello said.
Chinese companies are now investing in a record 39 projects in Brazil across a wider range of sectors, making the Latin American country the third largest recipient of Chinese capital in the world after Britain and Hungary, the study showed.