Tax reform will attract Chinese investments, Brazilian VP tells embassy

The Brazilian government expects to diversify its exports and attract more Chinese investments with the recently approved Tax Reform in Brazil, stated Brazilian Vice President Geraldo Alckmin. 

Luiz Augusto de Castro Neves (left), Geraldo Alckmin (center)

He said this while speaking at the Annual Conference of the Brazil-China Business Council (CEBC), attended by Chinese economists, business leaders, and authorities from both sides.

In the coming days, Brazil celebrates 50 years of bilateral relations with China. So far, it has been five productive decades of rapprochement, which have transformed the Asian country into Brazil's primary trading partner. In 2023, bilateral trade reached US$157.5 billion.

Alckmin stated at the event that the Brazilian government is committed to further advancing reciprocal trade and investments with China. According to him, the Brazilian Tax Reform "will boost industry and bring more investments in exports."

One of China's leading contemporary economists, David Daokui Li, stated at the CEBC that he is confident in China's growth recovery driven by an increase in domestic consumption, which could be beneficial for Brazil. 

"The Chinese economy is going through a winter. However, the government is very aware of the problem and has launched a series of reforms. The increase in Chinese consumption will demand more imported products," he said.

According to Li, many Chinese entrepreneurs and state-owned enterprise leaders have been evaluating opportunities to invest in factories in other countries. It is a way to seek more favorable production conditions and escape the solid internal competition in the Chinese market. "Brazil will certainly be a major investment destination in this process," Li said.

According to the Chinese Ambassador to Brazil, Zhu Qingqiao, joint development has always been an inherent characteristic of bilateral relations. The positive results of the relationship with China are due to the fact that "over the last 50 years, the two countries have understood joint development as the primary objective and saw the progress of the other as an opportunity for themselves."

Currently, he has identified opportunities in areas such as the green economy, digital economy, artificial intelligence (AI), aerospace industry, and healthcare. "Let us make high quality and sustainability the words that define Sino-Brazilian cooperation in this new era," Qingqiao said.

For Ambassador Luiz Augusto de Castro Neves, President of CEBC, there is no doubt that the dominant perception is that the half-century of cooperation between the two countries has left a largely positive balance. "Even with the backdrop of instability in international relations, in the world of accelerated transition we have lived in since the end of the Cold War," he stated.

Last year, for example, Brazilian exports to China exceeded $100 billion. Chinese investments in Brazil in the previous 17 years have reached more than $70 billion in about 250 projects. This year, up to July, Brazilian exports were already 7.4% above those recorded in the same period of 2023 and heading for a new record.

(Editing by Leonardo Gottems, reporter for AgroPages)