Zhou Zhiwei,

“The local regulations in Brazil are different from those in China, so it will be better for domestic companies to use the acquisition strategy so that they don’t need to face the local business environment all by themselves.” executive director of the Brazil Research Center under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

drop in 2015.

Brazil’s economy shrunk about 9 percent when the country’s economy started to slope, Brazil Business reported in March.

Faced with this turmoil, the Brazilian government has taken measures to attract overseas investment. Reuters reported in January that the country’s central government plans to launch a policy that will allow 100 percent foreign ownership of airlines. The government also plans to lift a ban on foreign investors buying agricultural land in Brazil.

Zhou added that China’s economic relations with Brazil have previously been focused on trade, but exports from China have actually hurt Brazil’s domestic industries and caused complaints in Brazil.

“Therefore, the Brazilian government wants to change the trade structure with China by exporting more higher- value end products to China, which will be possible if the two countries have more cooperation in production,” he said.

He also noted that as China’s investment in Brazil changes from the simple model of buying land to more sophisticated models like acquisitions, the Brazilian government is rethinking its cautious attitude toward Chinese investors.

“I think Brazil’s open attitude toward Chinese investment will continue,” he noted.

Brazil, with its huge market and comprehensive industries, also fits the Chinese policy of deepening production capacity cooperation. “The local regulations in Brazil are different from those in China, so it will be better for domestic companies to use the acquisition strategy so that they don’t need to face the local business environment all by themselves,” he said.

Xu Hongcai, deputy chief economist at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, said that cooperation among the BRICs countries, which include Brazil, Russia, India and China, have laid the foundation for China’s investment in Brazil.

“Scope for bilateral cooperation is large as the two economies can supplement each other in many aspects,” he told the Global Times. Consumers look at the mascot for Rio 2016 Olympic Games, which were imported from China. File photo: IC