China-Brazil Economic Development Strategic Dialogue
On October 24, the China-Brazil Economic Development Strategic Dialogue was held in the St. Regis Beijing, co-sponsored by Tsinghua University’s Institute for China’s Economic Practice and Thinking (ACCEPT), the China-Brazil Business Council, the Brazilian Center for International Relations, and Vale.
The dialogue welcomed a group of distinguished guests, including Mr. Zhu Guangyao, China’s former Vice Minister of Finance, Mr. Luiz Augusto Castro Neves, former Brazilian Ambassador to China and Brazilian Chairman of the China-Brazil Business Council, Mr. Marcos Caramuru de Paiva, former Brazilian Ambassador to China and Consultant Partner and Manager of KEMU, Mr. Ruan Zongze, Deputy Head of the China Institute of International Studies, Dr. Sarquis Sarquis, Vice President and Chief Risk Officer of the New Development Bank (NDB), Ms. Tatiana Rosito, Senior Researcher at the Brazilian Center for International Relations, and about 40 additional experts from China and Brazil.
Experts from the academic and business communities of China and Brazil discussed achievements of and opportunities for the two countries in the fields of economic and trade cooperation, capacity cooperation, infrastructure construction, and global governance against the backdrop of a new global landscape.
Zhu Guangyao, China’s former Vice Minister of Finance, said that according to the latest global economic growth rate released by IMF, this year has witnessed the lowest global economic growth in the past ten years since the outbreak of the global financial crisis. Under such circumstances, the world expects major emerging market countries to play a leading role in promoting global economic growth.
Dr. Sarquis Sarquis, Vice President of the NDB, pointed out that China and Brazil were both founders of the NDB and are also the largest developing countries in the Eastern and Western worlds, respectively. Together with other BRICS countries, they play a key role in their regional economies as well as the global economy. The BRICS countries are projected to account for more than 40% of global infrastructure investment by 2030, a fact that is both important and challenging. The strategic dialogues among Brazil, China, and other BRICS countries play a crucial role in driving economic development and, in a broader sense, in global growth and development. The NDB will provide development funds for Brazil, China, and other BRICS countries and will serve as an important participant in fundraising.
Castro Neves, former Brazilian Ambassador to China, said that China was doing better than Brazil in the dimensions of economy, commerce, and finance. He hopes that China and Brazil will seek more cooperation to contribute to the development of the two countries. China-Brazil cooperation has enjoyed great progress since the two countries established a long-term strategic partnership. Brazil must further enhance its global competitiveness to grasp the new opportunities presented by China's growth strategy.
Ruan Zongze, Deputy Head of the China Institute of International Studies, commented that the development of the Belt and Road Initiative has created new space for China-Brazil cooperation. Since the 2008 financial crisis, China has become Brazil's main trading partner and export destination. Since 2009, China has consistently been Brazil's largest trading partner, and in 2017, Brazil’s trade with China accounted for 22% of its total exports and 18% of imports.
According to data from China's General Administration of Customs, in July, China imported more than 15.49 million tons of soybeans from Brazil in the first half of this year, an increase of more than 46% over last year. From 2007 to 2017, China's investment in Brazil reached more than 55 billion dollars. In 2017, China surpassed the United States to become Brazil's largest FDI source. By the end of last year, China’s direct investment in Brazil exceeded 60 billion dollars. Additionally, there are over 300 Chinese enterprises in Brazil, which demonstrates the importance of the Brazilian market to China.
Sergio Espeschit, China President of Vale, said that Vale began its long-term cooperation with China 40 years ago and has always played a significant role in promoting industrial upgrading and providing complementarity in the two countries. At the same time, Vale has always been at the forefront to help China improve urbanization and work toward poverty alleviation.
Since 1973, Vale has delivered 2.1 billion tons of high-quality iron ore and pellet to China, including 200 million tons in 2018, accounting for 42% of the company's sales and 50% of the world's annual iron ore output. In addition, Vale is deepening its business in the fields of purchase, logistics, shipping, ports, new energy battery production, and clean energy cooperation, and continues to play a very important role in China's economic construction, promoting the common prosperity of both countries.
Li Daokui, Chief Economist at the BRICS NDB, gave his judgment on the economic cooperation potential between China and Brazil based on years of research. He believes that the important driving force in the process of China's transition from rapid to high-quality growth is industrial upgrading.
Relevant enterprises around Beijing have been able to reduce emissions by 20% because they purchased high-quality iron ore from Vale, which is a very concrete benefit. In the future, Brazil can carry out higher value-added deep processing of raw materials before export, reduce emissions and cost, and upgrade transportation logistics through the Internet to directly transport final products to their destinations. Cooperation between China and Brazil can promote common prosperity and improvement.
This year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Brazil. Taking this opportunity, ACCEPT, the China-Brazil Business Council, the Brazilian Center for International Relations, and Vale brought together friends from academic and business communities in the two countries to better understand each other through meetings and exchanges to further strengthen mutual understanding and economic and trade cooperation with one another. They also put forth ideas for boosting confidence in global economic growth, strengthening cooperation in global economic governance, and promoting reform of the global trade system.
In his speech, Li Keaobo, Deputy Head of ACCEPT, remarked: “China and Brazil are two big countries and highly complementary economies. If the two countries can carry out deep exchanges in terms of opportunities and challenges and jointly deal with the profound changes around the world unseen in a century, then they can enjoy mutual benefit.”
