Brazil's Ambassador in Beijing comments on entry of Chinese investments in the country

Brazil's ambassador in Beijing, Marcos Caramuru de Paiva, thinks the entry of Chinese financial groups in Brazil brings something "completely new" to economic relations between China and Brazil, and highlights investments made by the Fosun group and Haitong Bank.

Beijing – Brazil's ambassador in Beijing, Marcos Caramuru de Paiva, thinks the entry of Chinese financial groups in Brazil brings something "completely new" to economic relations between China and Brazil, and highlights investments made by the Fosun Group and Haitong Bank.

"I'm absolutely convinced that the picture we have today of the economic and commercial relations between China and Brazil will not be the same five years from now," he said in an interview to news agency Lusa.

In June this year, Fosun Group, which owns Fidelidade and Luz Saúde in Portugal, announced the acquisition of Rio Bravo, one of Brazil's largest investment managers.

Chinese bank Haitong also secured a "very strong presence in Brazil by acquiring Banco Espírito Santo de Investmento in Portugal," retaining the bank's assets in Brazil, according to Paiva.

For him, "this is something completely new," given that not long ago Chinese banks used to enter Brazil with new licenses and "were here basically to serve Chinese companies doing business in the country."

He predicts that the new players will "efficiently establish partnerships, mergers and associations between Brazilian and Chinese companies."

"There will be increasingly greater cooperation in the industrial and service sectors, on smaller operations but which create new ways of integration between companies," he said.

Paiva, who took over as ambassador in Beijing about two months ago, also pointed to a scenario of "triangulation between Brazil, China and Portugal," promoted by Chinese financial institutions.

"It’s the banks that know the companies well and you need banks to create this network of relations among companies (…) and create opportunities for mergers and associations," he said.

"Perhaps something new could emerge from this triangulation, which already existed in the past," he pointed out.

Formerly the Consul General of Brazil in Shanghai, Marcos Caramuru de Paiva has already served in Kuala Lumpur and was Executive Director at the World Bank in Washington.

He has been living in China for nine years, where he is also partner and manager of KEMU Consultoria, a company headquartered in Shanghai.

In 2009, China overtook the United States as Brazil's main economic partner and also became its main foreign investor.

Last year, the volume of bilateral trade stood at US$71,800 million (€66,070 million), down 17.37% from 2014.

The two countries are also members of BRICS, which also comprises Russia, India and South Africa, while Brazil is the ninth largest shareholder of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the first international financial institution proposed by Beijing.

Source: Portugal Digital