Baseless claims won’t derail China-Brazail ties
China has become the No.1 buyer of Brazil’s agricultural products, with imports of $23 billion last year, accounting for 30 percent of Brazil’s total agricultural exports.
The scale of trade is expected to grow further given that the US, once a strong competitor to Brazil, is in an escalating trade war with China. US agricultural products might lose their advantage because of high tariffs.
Global Times reporter Shen Weiduo (GT) interviewed Li Jinzhang (Li), China’s ambassador to Brazil, to seek his opinion on China-Brazil trade relations and possible future cooperation in the agricultural sector. GT: What is the status of bilateral trade/agricultural relations?
Li: Brazil has been China’s biggest trading partner in Latin America and China has been Brazil’s biggest trading partner for nine consecutive years. In 2017, bilateral trade reached $87.5 billion, up 30 percent yearon-year.
In terms of agriculture, China has become the biggest importer. As for Brazil’s soybeans, China imported 50 million tons of soybeans in 2017, accounting for 80 percent of Brazil’s total volume of soybean exports.
Brazil is using agriculture as an important means to revive its economy. In the China International Import Expo to be held in Shanghai in November, Brazil will use the event to promote its agricultural products.
GT: With escalating China-US trade friction, is it possible to import more agricultural products, including soybeans, from Brazil?
Li: China has been actively diversifying its agricultural product imports, and Brazil, known as “the world’s granary in the 21st century,” is a good choice. We could gradually increase imports of agricultural products from Brazil to ensure domestic supplies, stable markets and food safety.
China also has booming demand for cotton, cooking oil, sugar and dairy products, all of which are major products of Brazil. The two sides could achieve greater development in bilateral agricultural trade.
GT: It’s recently been said that increasing Chinese investment in Brazil means that “China isn’t buying in Brazil, it is buying Brazil.” What’s your view?
Li: The comment is ridiculous and has no foundation, since Chinese buyers account for just 3 percent of foreign land purchases in Brazil.
Chinese investments have improved Brazil’s infrastructure, brought advanced technology, and helped with Brazil’s industrialization and digital development. Thus, many Brazilian companies are actively exploring opportunities to cooperate with Chinese companies.
When operating in Brazil, Chinese companies have also strictly abided by local laws and regulations, and have always insisted on conducting an equal and mutually beneficial dialogue with Brazilian counterparts.
With growing populism around the world, globalization and international trade cooperation are facing strong headwinds. But since cooperation between China and Brazil is based on a complementary structure and is a mutually beneficial choice, such comments will not reverse the overall trend of China-Brazil cooperation in the future.