The US-China trade war is far from over, and while Washington continues to shut off everyone, Beijing is now eyeing on Brazil to establish a much proactive and equally beneficial economic cooperation.
According to Reuters, the Xi Jinping government is looking to further enhance its trade relations with Brazil in the sector of agriculture and food supply.
Li Jinzhang, China's envoy to Brazil, is currently at Sao Paolo for an agribusiness conference. The ambassador said that Beijing will be taking its trade partnership with Brazil to "new levels" as economic threats brought by the Trump trade spat loom in a closer distance.
The two countries, Li added, could benefit in building "multilateral mechanisms," an example of which is the World Trade Organizations, if they seek to cement strong trade relations.
The Asian giant and the Latin American country shared a long history of trade partnership which has now been going on for 200 years.
Ever since Brazil relies mostly on China for its overseas trade income. As reported over at South China Morning Post, Chinese investment firms have already invested $54 billion worth of capital inflow for 100 projects in Brazil over the course of 15 years.
Almost 20 percent (or $11 billion) of the total Chinese investment happened in 2017 alone.
Luiz Augusto de Castro Neves, the president of the China-Brazil Business Council, recognized in his statement the "very important role" China has played in reviving Brazil's dormant economy.
Aside from agriculture, China's cooperation with Brazil encompasses several sectors of the economy. For one, China is now "heavily" investing in the country's banking and finance. Even more so, China is also assisting the Latin American nation in building its communication infrastructures.
This spells good news for Brazil as it continues to grapple with recession. In a 2017 report from CNN, the country's economy dips low in 2016 with 3.6 percent from preceding year's 3.8 percent. In that year, Brazil hit an all-time high 13 million unemployment rate.
The Council of the Americas did admit that the economic downfall is prevalent in "the streets of Brazil," but this is a far cry from what is going on behind the stage.
Brazil is now one of the leading participants of the BRICS association - a league of emerging economies including Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
This week, Xi Jinping and other national dignitaries will be convening in Johannesburg, South Africa for the upcoming 2018 BRICS summit. More investment schemes and trade agreements will likely to highlight the meeting.
