With a huge business delegation, Brazil’s president is trying to get hold of Chinese investments. That should cause nervousness in Washington.
Peking. The delegation that the Brazilian President is towing to China is extremely impressive: In addition to seven ministers, five governors and the powerful Senate President, more than 200 company directors will also accompany Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on his four-day trip to Shanghai and Beijing. Its appendix makes it clear that the focus is primarily on the economy.
This is not surprising given the tremendous increase in trade relations between the two Brics countries. According to Chinese information, the bilateral volume of goods amounts to around 170 billion US dollars. For 14 years in a row, the People’s Republic has been the most important economic partner for Brazil, which is one of the few countries to record a trade surplus with the world’s second largest economy. This is mainly due to the massive agricultural exports to East Asia.
Conversely, Beijing is increasingly appearing as an important investor in Latin America: In Brazil, Chinese companies are building transport infrastructure, supplying technology for digital change and building plants for electric cars. The fact that economic cooperation will intensify in the future is to be recorded in writing over the next few days: Lula will be able to conclude at least 20 bilateral agreements in the People’s Republic.
