Brazil-China Ties Explained | Barron’s

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A state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Brazil on Wednesday, extending a stay after attending a G20 summit in Rio, symbolizes ambitions Beijing and Brasilia have of increased prominence globally.

China and Brazil are the major emerging powers of the eastern and western hemispheres.

They are also the world's fourth- and fifth-biggest countries by area.

In terms of population, they rank second and seventh, respectively, with 1.4 billion people in China and 214 million in Brazil.

With diplomatic ties going back half a century, the bilateral event builds on a geopolitical partnership that had grown since Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva returned to power in 2023.

"It's normal that the Chinese Communist Party feels comfortable speaking with left-wing governments," a former Brazilian ambassador to China, Marcos Caramuru, told AFP. Though he pointed out that China's relationship with Brazil "was entirely pragmatic."

Both are part of the nine-member BRICS group of emerging economies, which also includes India, Russia and South Africa.

Jorge Heine, a former Chilean ambassador to China who is now a researcher at Boston University, said that "as tensions with the US and the EU escalate, China focuses more and more on the Global South, where Brazil holds center stage."

The two governments have also come up with a joint roadmap for peace between Russia and Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin considers it "balanced" but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has rejected it and the United States and Europe have not taken it on board.

Brazil and China maintain a strategic trade partnership, though an asymmetrical one, in China's favor.

China is Brazil's biggest trade partner, while Brazil ranks ninth for China.

Although Brazil is one of the few countries to have a trade surplus with China, its exports are largely commodities, while China's exports to Brazil are diversified with higher added value.

China's contribution to Brazilian industry is visible in sectors working make a green transition, such as the auto industry.

Great Wall Motors and BYD, two giant Chinese car manufacturers, have announced $2.5 billion in investment in Brazil to build electric cars.

"The green economy more generally offers considerable potential for Chinese investment, given South America's copper and lithium reserves, two critical minerals for e-batteries," said Heine.

Margaret Myers, the Asia and Latin America director for the Inter-American Dialogue think tank, said Donald Trump's re-election as US president "will translate to a loss of soft power in Latin America and other regions," opening space that China could fill.

For now, though, Lula is approaching relations with Beijing pragmatically.

"Don't believe that when I speak with China I want to fight with the United States. Quite the opposite: I want both on our side," the leader said several months ago.

Before Xi's arrival in Brazil, there was speculation Brasilia could sign on to China's Belt and Road Initiative.

But Lula's top international affairs adviser, Celso Amorim, lowered expectations for such a move, declaring that negotiations with China were "not about signing on the dotted line, like an insurance policy."

Instead, it was looking for "synergies," he said.

A Brazilian diplomatic source confirmed to AFP that Brazil is ready to listen to China's proposals, but labeling the outcome as one thing or another was "not the fundamental thing."

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