- Compared to 2017, however, the volumes invested in 2018 and 2019 are still low;
- That year, more than $ 10 billion from the Asian giant was invested in Brazil, thanks not only to mergers and acquisitions, but to Chinese participation in auctions promoted by the Investment Partnership Program (PPI in the acronym in Portuguese);
- The PPI is expected to accelerate in the first half of 2020 by offering projects in areas of major Chinese interest.
According to the Brazilian newspaper Valor Econômico, data from the Foreign Trade Chamber (Camex), linked to the Ministry of Economy, indicate that Chinese investments in Brazil reached $1.87 billion this year, until September. The amount mainly refers to mergers and acquisitions and investments in operations already started by the Chinese in the country, and it’s a little bit larger than the one from 2018.
ALSO READ: Four factors underlying China’s Technological Rise
Next year, though, due to the expectations related to the greater growth of the Brazilian economy and the resumption of the privatization and concessions program by the federal government, called the Investment Partnership Program (PPI in the acronym in Portuguese), Chinese investments in the country should skyrocket.
Compared to 2017, however, the volumes invested in 2018 and 2019 are still low. That year, more than $ 10 billion from the Asian giant was invested in Brazil, thanks not only to mergers and acquisitions, but to Chinese participation in auctions.
In 2018, the last year of the mandate of Michel Temer, the government responsible for the creation of the PPI, the program was practically stopped. It was an election year and decisions about the privatization process that had to be taken by the Superior Federal Court (STF) were in a back burner.
In 2019, with Jair Bolsonaro, the PPI resumed, but at a slow pace, with the STF dragging the privatization decision throughout the first half. Only in June did the court ministers decide that every state-owned company and any state-owned company would need congressional approval to be effectively privatized.
The PPI is expected to accelerate in the first half of 2020 by offering projects in areas of major Chinese interest, such as railways and hydroelectric plants, airports and ports, said Renato Baumann, deputy secretary for foreign investment at the executive secretary of the Chinese government. Camex, to Value.
