China, Brazil work for more solid progress in economic and trade cooperation

Local employees assemble TV sets at the SEMP TCL manufacturing center located in Manaus, capital city of Amazonas, north of Brazil. (People’s Daily/Li Xiaoxiao)

China and Brazil, though thousands of miles apart, are closely linked by economic and trade ties. In recent years, the two countries have promoted more solid progress and achieved plentiful results in economic and trade cooperation.

Statistics show that China has maintained Brazil’s biggest trading partner and export destination for 10 consecutive years. Bilateral trade continues to rise, with the trade volume hitting a record high of over 100 billion US dollars in 2018.

The pragmatic economic and trade cooperation is facilitating the common development of China and Brazil and benefiting the people from both countries.

Ricardo Santin, CEO of the Brazilian Association of Animal Protein (ABPA), said he has visited China five times altogether and noticed the changes in the country brought by its stable and rapid economic development.

Along with development comes significantly improving living standards and Chinese consumers’ increasing demands for more high-quality meat products, said Santin, adding that Brazil needs to grasp the opportunities presented by China’s rapid development.

Brazil is the world’s largest exporter of beef and chicken. In recent years, the export of its meat products is particularly remarkable. Insiders pointed out that the strong demand in the Chinese market serves as a major driving force.

Driven by the export to China, Brazil’s total export of beef increased by more than 20 percent year on year in the first seven months of this year, data suggest.

To strengthen the cooperation with China, the ABPA has set up a representative office in Beijing and continued to expand its business.

“My wife just had a baby and we are planning to buy a bigger house,” said Caucate, an employee at SEMP TCL, a manufacturing center located in Manaus, capital city of Amazonas, north of Brazil.

Just three years ago when he retired from the army, Caucate was worried that he couldn’t get a job with good pay amongst the sluggish economic environment. But after he came to SEMP TCL, his life changed.

SEMP TCL is a joint venture company set up in 2016 by Chinese home appliance brand TCL and SEMP, Brazil’s leading appliance manufacturer, with a total investment of 200 million BRL (one BRL equals 0.24 US dollar).

TCL has introduced high-end technologies and equipment into Brazil, such as automatic optical 3D inspection system, network TV data management system and intelligent packaging equipment. The annual production capacity of the manufacturing center in Manaus has increased from one million units to three million units.

Cooperating with the Chinese enterprise has greatly improved the industry in Brazil, said Paulo Sandrini, manager of the manufacturing center.

The center can mass produce the industry-leading ultra-thin, intelligent, and large-screen TV sets, Sandrini pointed out, adding that the sales of their intelligent high-end products account for more than 20 percent of the Brazilian market.

He thinks that the Chinese brand will be more competitive with increasing investment in research and products based on the demands of the local people.

China has continuously optimized its investment structure and expanded its investment fields in Brazil in recent years.

Chinese-funded enterprises have expanded their fields of investment in Brazil from agriculture and mining several years ago to telecommunication and electric power now, according to the Ministry of Economy in Brazil.

In July 2015, the State Grid Corp of China won a bid to build the second phase of the Belo Monte ultrahigh voltage power project in Brazil. The construction started in August 2017.

With a total length of 2,538 kilometers, the electricity transmission line crosses 81 cities of five states in Brazil, bringing clean energy from the Amazon rain forest in the north to major energy consumption areas in the southeast of the country.

During the construction process, the Chinese company has brought experience and technologies to Brazil, which were recognized and adopted by its local counterpart.

On Oct. 25, 2019, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Brazilian President Jair Messias Bolsonaro witnessed signing of the operating permit of the project at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, which indicated that the project has officially entered commercial operation.

Pragmatic cooperation has brought actual benefits for people in China and Brazil, said Marcos Troyjo, Deputy Minister of Economy in Brazil.

What the People’s Republic of China has achieved since it was founded in 1949, especially since reform and opening up over the past 40 years, counts as one of the greatest miracles in the history of world economy, Troyjo noted.

He pointed out that trade between China and Brazil has grown rapidly thanks to China’s continuous opening-up and the two countries will embrace greater potential in economic and trade cooperation after further integrating their development strategies.